A Broken Reality
by Shackle Our Smiles
Summary: He never wanted things to come to this, he never wanted to become her puppet, her monster, and yet he continuously goes against his creed. The famous, now infamous, Death Scythe is thrown into turmoil and all of the people around him begin collapsing at his feet. He's sane yet he's insane with his control of things constantly slipping. Warning - Gore, Suggestive Themes
1. Prologue

**Welcome to a hideous world full of anguish and agony! It's going to be a rough ride with some unseen twists and turns that are...cruel.**

**Do not read if you can't handle some suggestive actions, words, gore, etc... Content rated M for a reason!**

* * *

**_Prologue_**

The room is bland, old unpolished wooden walls matched by older roughly surfaced wooden floors with splinters and cracks lining down each board, with nothing but a metal chair centered in the middle of the old and the bland. In the metal chair sat a teenager with old dried blood chipping off of his shirt with his hands and feet cuffed to the chair that is bolted to the ground, no easy way of getting out of the restraints. Near the chair rested a rusted bucket filled with a black liquid with a tar like appearance.

The only door in this entire room creaked open and in walked a young woman with long pale blue hair swept over her right shoulder wearing an oversized cloak with a white trim and a small red eye spreading horizontally across the back. She waltzed over to the male whose head was hanging almost lifelessly to the side, she hovered over him and her lips curled upright when an urge took over her.

"Wake up..." She whispered against the lobe of his ear gently pulling on a tuft of his unwashed white hair that was slicked with natural oils. "Rise and shine!" She shouted in his ear causing his eyes to snap open wide and make him instinctively jerk back from the loud voice.

When he realized it was her that stood before him all of the color drained from his face and his eyes wavered with fear.

The look of fear in those eyes of his were always so pleasing, so rewarding, but she liked the way his pain was shown through his _ruby_ hues, it is always a delightful sight. The plans for today were big, bigger than life itself, and she just didn't want to wait another second.

She roughly cupped his chin digging her sharp long nails into his colorful bruised skin and she forcefully turned his head so he would look her in the eye, with their eyes met she glared down into his earning this dark look that he has been giving her for the past few days. The look was all it will ever be, a hateful look followed by hateful thoughts that can never be acted on.

"You sure have some fight left in you..." She growled as she dug her nails deeper into his flesh causing him to jerk back and wince in pain. "Come now! Don't be stubborn!"

"Let me go!" He screamed having to force those words out as her stone grip began pushing against his jaw bone while her nails just continued to split into his skin. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to imagine a world where this wasn't happening.

"I'm 'fraid I can't do that, you have too much potential! All of the others withered, couldn't remain sane enough to be insane..." Her grip on him loosened slightly then she just let him go, he allowed his head to loll to the side flexing his fingers wishing that he could turn into a weapon but was restricted by these restraints that constantly burn him.

She straightened out her posture and beamed down at him, he is the perfect piece for her to sculpt since he has already been a part of the madness. The only real step to be taken is for that madness to devour him and when that happens he'll be her little monster running rampant through the streets taking souls galore.

"Today won't be too fun for you, sorry..." She said with a shrug as she twitched her fingers, a small light appeared from her palm and out of that light fell a dagger with rigid edges and a sharp tip that would impale him perfectly. When he saw the blade all of his muscles tensed, his breaths became short and almost non existent, and he was back to being ultimately afraid.

"Oh, don't look so fearful of me! I'm just trying to tear away what remains of your shirt, you made quite a mess yesterday." She grabbed the hem of his shirt and began hacking away at the cloth, he couldn't help but to stare at the slim blade as it effortlessly sliced through the cloth of his bloodied up shirt feeling his heart exploding against his ribcage with each heavy beat.

With the shirt gone and shredded to pieces she was able to see more clearly what she was working with and her eyes liked what she saw. She patted his chest then allowed her fingers to trail down immediately feeling him lock up underneath her fingertips, he inhaled deeply at the cool touch of her lingering fingers against his hot skin attempting to keep as calm as he could. "Nice hard body..." She moved her fingers across his stomach tracing the muscles impressed by the growth of his body, "Some of the _others_ were kind of plump, not fit, but you are perfect... The _others_ weren't nearly as close to your age though and none of them were your weapon type. You were harder to _steal_ away from the world with your high status, but-" She tossed the dagger across the room, it clattered against the floor, out of sight but not out of mind, "I have you!" She taunted with a strange twisted light flickering in her dull red eyes.

He never let his eyes leave her watching every single move that she made scared of the next she would make. He can't escape, or fight back, so he is afraid. Not being able to do something while danger is present makes his insides twist, and she takes some sick sort of enjoyment from watching him suffer, fall, and feel helpless and depraved.

"Don't hate me for this, okay?" She said in a tiny voice through pursued red lips and he braced for what was to come. She ghosted her fingers over his chest stopping at his defined collar bones, all while her fingers touched his skin he breathed in and out rapidly, not knowing what move she was about to make. Not knowing drove him mad with fear, before he could make any sort of assumption his skin began burning and the smell of charred flesh filled his nostrils.

The burning touch made him yank back, he attempted to tear himself out of her reach, but he couldn't go anywhere, even with knowing that he kept trying to pull himself away from her getting the same sad results, no way away from the pain.

The pain intensified as she swept her finger down his chest to his belly button leaving charred bloody flesh in her wake that reeked horribly of copper. He opened his mouth to scream but instead of giving her that enjoyment he clamped his mouth shut and squeezed the arms of the chair.

The blue haired woman burned her drawings into his skin starting from his collar bone and going straight down stopping where his belly button is. He jerked around still, but didn't mess up any of her thick lines, and he didn't scream refusing her that pleasure. Carefully she began drawing patterns on his chest on each side of the initial burnt-in divide. He never screamed during this part, he just kept his eyes shut tightly forgetting to take a quick breath when the pain became blinding.

When she finished etching her markings onto her flesh canvas his body was slicked with sweat, blood, and a light transparent liquid. The burns she left him were black, bloody, and irritated, it was hideous but had the potential to be something so beautiful.

"Good boy!" She patted his head taking his wheezing as a sign of gratitude. "Now... for the next part!" A grin spread across her lips that he couldn't see, he refused to open his eyes, he was afraid that when he would see the wounds the pain would only worsen, so he kept them shut tight.

_There is more..._ He curled his toes, the pain flourishing throughout his body white and hot something that he has never experienced before, he almost feels like he could just drift off.

"I'm going to fill those wounds cratered into your flesh with my blood and black blood." His heart skipped a beat. "You've dealt with black blood before, right? Yes, yes... You _are_ a part of _her experiment_, or more likely _were_." She idly talked as she ran her fingernail through her wrist separating her skin. "Your blood will be black, no more red! At least you won't have to deal with that little _soul eater_ that clings to your soul, he'll be wiped away by the darkness and so will you!" She placed her bleeding wrist against the longest burn that basically looked like she split him in half with two different sections that were identical to each other. He breathed through his teeth sucking in as much air as possible as her skin brushed against the already agitated burns.

Her blood quickly filled the burns and seeped through his charred flesh, her blood was oddly warm; comforting like a mothers hug, strange since her touch is icy.

"Think of my blood as a catalyst..." She whispered as she pulled her bloody wrist away from his wounds then proceeded to dip her hand into the bucket rimmed with a black liquid. She swirled her fingers around in the thick liquid and when she pulled her hand out her fingers were coated with a black goop.

Without saying another word she retraced the burns with her bloodied up fingers, painting in the tar-like substance.

She let her hand fall away from his chest and plopped down onto the ground before his feet. He opened up his eyes halfway slowly letting out a small sigh of relief, what ever she just did really soothed the burns, he turned his eyes down to his chest. He beamed down at his chest his eyes widening when he saw the damage, bile rose up in the back of his throat that he quickly swallowed down with his gastric acid lubricating his throat. The black blood clung to his wounds bubbling slightly as it slowly passed through the burns reacting to the layer of her blood. The once soothing sensation was replaced with a flesh tearing agony that felt like he was being stabbed by a thousand of tiny little needles over and over again.

He couldn't hold back his screams and cries this time, the pain started on the surface then found its way into his body attacking every organ, and the woman just smiled in response to his cries of agony.

"Aggghhhhhhhh!" He cried out at the top of his lungs arching his back unnaturally from the pain that just kept gnawing at him from inside out. He could feel it all around in almost every part of his body trying to dig in deeper and deeper. He couldn't hold still in his seat, his eyes were blood shot opened wide and feverishly dancing around the bland room as he thrashed about in the seat wildly.

"Get it out!" He pleaded in a raspy voice already tired and weak from screaming, his insides twisted again, and he threw his head back letting out another scream.

"Get it out! Get it out! **GET IT OUT!**" He repeatedly screamed slurring over his words once the blood reached his brain making everything feel messy and mushy.

The anger and agony remained strong in his voice, his brain may be scrambled but his feelings aren't. "**Ghiiiiiit! Iiit! Ooouuuht!**"

The woman just sat before him watching as he screamed in his confusion and anger, amazed by how he processed things. Honestly she has never gotten this far with any of the weapons she has snatched, she never really worked as fast as she has worked with him either. She would keep them and train them for months for this event making them experience unbelievable pains; she couldn't wait for this one, something about him screamed finish me!

He slammed his feet against the ground over and over again trying to dig his fingers into the arms of his chair and then in an instant his screams twisted into hysterical laughter. He rocked back and forth as he laughed in his hysteria showing off his razor sharp teeth to her.

He couldn't control his actions but he could control his thoughts.

_I feel like I'm dying!_

He continued to laugh saliva rolling down the corners of his mouth.

_Everything hurts so bad... Why? Why is this happening to me?_

The woman continued to watch him with a spark of life in her red eyes that usually isn't there.

_What do you want from me? Why don't you just kill me!? Kill_ _me! I can't... **KILL ME!**_

And those tantalizing red eyes of hers just stayed pinned on him as he continued to rock around wildly in his restraints continuing to laugh like a mad man...

_I want to- I want to go home! I want to be with... I-I..._

The maniacal laughter died down and soon the tears started rolling down his cheeks. Everything hurts but he isn't crying because of the physical distress, he's crying for the people he holds close to his heart. He wants them to be here, to bust through that door and rescue him, he wants someone to save him. He doesn't care if he looks pathetic he just doesn't want to endure anymore of this! Someone has to come for him... The tears just continued to streak down his cheeks and roll onto the burns on his chest.

The woman never thought she could feel this warm inside when watching someone cry. The weapon looks so broken down in just a matter of days, it's amazing how much progression he has made. If things go well here he'll recuperate slightly and will be fine enough to live.

"Aww..." She cooed softly as she twirled her finger around a thick strand of his hair. "You look hurt..." He didn't respond he just kept his eyes glued on the only door in the room waiting for someone to bust it down and save him.

"If you want the pain to go away you need to _eat_ little _monster..._" She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his with a bright smile on her face. "Make the suffering go away. _Consume,_ it's in your _nature,_ it _always_ has been."

* * *

The black moon hangs high up in the night sky almost melting into its own starlit back drop. On the almost lonesome streets of Death City walks a young woman who was hugging herself with the harsh winter elements attacking her.

She isn't dressed warm, her clothes are skimpy and trashy, revealing each curve of her body. She's a fit woman with a good amount of muscle and fat on her body, it's obvious she cares about her appearance, she wants to appeal to the eyes of men.

She let out a breath her lips trembling as a light transparent mist appeared before her eyes, it's just getting colder and colder. She's so cold now that she can feel her joints locking up, she feels like she has arthritis like her mother, the pain of trying to move when your body doesn't want to is numbing, almost as numbing as this icy night.

"Almost home..." She whispered through chattering teeth hugging her sides even tighter getting a minimal amount of warmth at this point.

In the distance he could see her, he could _sense_ her. She is a young woman with an ample amount of flesh to her with a bright soul that has been mistreated. Any silver lining for her has passed.

He had to get her, he had to get something, his stomach growled up at him, and he succumbed to his own hunger. His food is so close, that fact made him run with adrenaline pumping through his veins. Warmth swelled up inside of his chest the closer he got to the woman who was clueless to what was happening near her.

In the darkness just a few meters away from her he watched her, she's weaker, weaker than she usually would be. The element of this frosty season plays to his benefit. Even if he's freezing he keeps fluent movements, the cold doesn't bother him, it's just something that is there that causes him a slight discomfort.

He hasn't _eaten_ in days, hasn't had the chance to feast since he's been on a mission trying to locate something he's _lost_, he's starving he'll pretty much eat anything.

And she's anything.

He lunged out of the darkness tackling the woman to the ground immediately earning a high pitched scream from her that angered him so easily. As he hugged her hips with his legs he stared down into her big dark green eyes, something about her eyes were familiar almost comforting, but he knew that he didn't know her, her soul doesn't feel familiar to him at all.

"Stop!" She begged as she wriggled underneath his weight and tried to punch and scratch him. "Please! You can have my money!"

He grinned at the prospect of something that worthless, and the grin continued to spread when she began crying.

"I don't want your money..." He said in a soft voice as he reached down towards her and placed his gloved hand against her chest.

Her eyes widened and her screams grew louder, he knew what she was thinking, and it only made this moment more beautiful. He doesn't want her body, not the way that she thinks that he does, if he were a man who wanted her for sex then her night would end a lot better.

"Do you know what I want?" He asked as he moved his other hand up to his face where a mask secured his mouth.

She continued crying and clawing at his arms trying to push him away so that she could make a run for it or at least get help from someone nearby but couldn't manage to over power him.

He pulled the leather mask down, the cold air immediately stinging his bruised lips, and for a moment she stopped trying to resist him and just looked up at him with wide eyes.

"I want..." He began speaking, a heavy gust of wind nearly pushing his hood back. "Something that can fill me up." He grinned down at her revealing his sharp teeth, she screamed when she saw his mouth and began fighting again. His teeth were sharp, sickening to look at, and we're ready to tear her apart.

"Someone help me!" She screamed out at the top of her lungs trying to attract the attention of anyone inside of their homes at this ungodly hour.

"Somebody!" She screamed again.

And now her screams are boring, just a simple repeat of _'save me I'm_ _a damsel in distress!' _He lifted his hand off of her chest seeing relief flash through her green eyes that wouldn't last, he flexed his fingers as he held his hand high and grinned even wider when she tried to scream again.

He thrusted his arm forward at an unbelievable speed easily passing through her weak flesh and bones, she is so fragile, humans in general are just so breakable.

The breaths she had to scream with were no longer, her eyes remained wide with fear almost glassy as her life slowly bled out of her. The movements she made were subtle, small twitches of her muscles here and there that were hardly noticeable. She stared up at her killer seeing his brilliant ruby red eyes filled with this emptiness that made him unreadable.

He already pierced her beating heart and yet she lays beneath him holding onto life even though her heart was no longer beating. He yanked his hand out of her chest and tore his glove off so he could feel her insides better. He placed his bloody glove into his pocket making sure that no evidence of himself would be left here that would be easy to find.

With his hand unclothed he jammed it back inside of her body, each time she let out an almost forced breathe he felt her wound breathe with her. And by the time he pulled his hand back out of her chest she was out of oxygen, out of fight to stay alive any longer.

He brought his bloodied hand up to his mouth and ran his calloused fingers across his lips tasting her coppery blood. Her soul didn't taste horrible, it wasn't sweet, or savory, but it wasn't disgusting, it had an odd texture. If she had a better life maybe she would taste better.

For now this is as good as he can do for food.

By tasting her blood he can taste her soul, by tasting anyone's blood he can taste their soul, he has acquired this ability after a change in his life that separated him from how he used to be. He is no longer the person that people knew him to be, whoever those people are that used to know him, he doesn't know them, but wishes he did. Some of the memories that he had that were stripped away from him make him ache, and then there is one soul that has been causing him to experience this constant throb in his chest. The soul is powerful, the soul is the thing that brought him here, and now he can't pinpoint it because it literally surrounds this city that he seems to know perfectly.

He wants to find this soul, it has carried him miles upon miles... Those memories he had he wants back and if he can find and devour this soul here he has a feeling that he'll remember everything that he lost.

Upon this night he eats, making his first victim in this city, making sure he doesn't let her body go to waste. He eats her, not entirely, but leaves an unrecognizable corpse on the ground with no soul or heart.

He rubbed his face with the sleeve of his coat smearing the blood across his face. "I'm always a messy eater..." He chuckled as he dug his nails into her small light blue soul that reflected her sad life.

He tilted his head back and swallowed her soul in one go, the soul was plump with the consistency of rubber making it less enjoyable to consume. He swallowed it down not really trying to be picky since he's been starving himself.

Even with what he's eaten tonight he's still hungry, one body and one soul just won't cut it, he needs more.

If things come to it he'll just hunt in daylight until the DWMA comes after him.

He stands where he left the woman's corpse, her insides were scrambled, and her face unrecognizable so broken apart that it looked as if someone bludgeoned her face in.

The delightful yet heart-wrenching smell of the soul he came here for stayed strong overpowering every other scent including the scent of the woman's blood smeared across his face.

_I have to find you..._

* * *

She lays in bed alone with the light of her bedside lamp illuminating her room. It's always lonely for her even with all of her friends because a big piece of her has gone missing.

She pulled her covers up higher over her shoulders and attempted to sleep again, but ended up twisting and turning with pessimistic thoughts forcing her to stay awake.

Eventually she forced herself to sit up, she rubbed at her sleep slicked eyes and peered down at her alarm clock, 6 am without a wink of sleep. So it's just going to be one of those nights where her rest is disturbed by the lack of someone in her life who should be here with her now.

She pulled her tousled ash blonde hair into a loose pony tail and yanked the covers off of her slim body. She stood up slowly and headed over to her window, she peered outside not surprised that the sky was still dark with a blue tint.

It's been several months and _he_ hasn't been found, not even his body has been found. So she's left being unsure if he's dead or alive, hoping that he is alive, hoping that he's okay, praying that he'll be back again with a smile. There literally isn't any evidence of where he could be or what could have happened to him, he just suddenly _vanished_ with no trace left behind.

She pressed her hand against the window feeling the bitter frost of the outside weather, she kept her hand there and just stared at the horizon waiting for the sun to rise.

_"I'll find you..."_

* * *

**Characters names aren't given but I'm sure you know who is who for the most part! But who is this mysterious witch? What the hell is she doing and why!? She's an elusive cog in the machine, or more plainly put she's a big damn deal in the story!**

**Positive feedback is amazing and even critiquing is fine (since I know I make a million mistakes...) Let me know what you think and leave a review so I know what you like!**

**My co-writer(editor) and I came to this idea upon a certain someone's name so we were like hell yeah let's give it some meaning! But we wanted there to be a story that was intricate and well thought through. My editor and I brainstormed and decided to use a small bit of content from her old entries that she took down.**

**Don't read if you aren't prepared for something grotesque and inhuman, things from this point on will only get worse**.


	2. Chapter 1 - Who It Is

**I wanted to get this chapter out as soon as I could, so I apologize if things are rushed. In an attempt to really get the story going I'm rushing some things. I wanted to get this out sooner then when it was scheduled because I have some wonderful work to deal with!**

**I like the lack of reviews! I didn't, I really want to know what you all think. Knowing what you like will help me make better decisions...**

**Anyways to those of you who stuck around for chapter one here ya go!**

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**_Chapter One_**

"In latest news 37 officers have been found brutally murdered with their souls missing. The eater has struck again," A woman with tight chocolate curls announced in a monotone voice with an almost emotionless expression on her face, not even fazed by these deaths, "Nearly a thousand people have been killed by one creature, and so far anyone who has taken on this monster hasn't been alive to tell the story. It sounds impossible, even ridiculous that one thing can do this within a few months, what's even more ridiculous is that evidence hasn't even been found! Not until now..." The woman smiled, her teeth pearly white and perfectly straight, " Investigator Toma and his squad were given permission to work on this case from the Shinigami himself, and they have been on this case for a month and have accumulated a database of this creature. They have found evidence, major evidence in this investigation that can lead us to the identity of this thing. And knowing the enemy is an advantage." The reporter paused a moment and pushed some of her curly hair away from her face, there was a small silver object in her ear, she pushed it and the screen switched over to an older gentleman.

"Would you be kind enough to tell the world what you have found out about this eater, Toma?" The young reporter asked.

Toma ran his fingers through his close-cropped raven black hair and smiled into the camera, "Of course! I would be glad to enlighten the souls that remain!"

The camera shook when Toma said that and then a tanned hand was waved in front of the camera blocking Toma's face. "Uh! Sir! That was inappropriate!" A young male's voice called out, pulling his hand out of the shot.

Toma gave the camera-man a slight nod of his head and proceeded to lean back in his seat, "Like I was saying..." He looked past the camera, probably looking at the man holding the camera. "To those of you alive and out of his, yes, his wrath, you will get to learn a little bit about the soul eater." He smiled at the camera, his deep brown eyes sparkling with passion, it's obvious he loves his work.

He stuck up one finger and bent it slightly, "Number one - this thing that has been feasting upon souls is a man. We found this out with some blood we found at a scene earlier this week. And he also has eaten more women than men which of course could be because of circumstances and who is out at night more..."

Toma balled up his hand then stuck up two fingers, his expression slightly changing as if the next thing bothered him, "You may ask how we knew it was his blood or how we could tell the difference at the scene... Well, his blood isn't like ours." Toma clasped his hands together and rested his chin on his knuckles. "He has _black blood_ which seems to have been overlooked by many squads before us..."

Toma sat silent for a few minutes giving his audience time to swallow that information before shoving more down their throat, when he felt enough time was given he continued.

"Now he is no _demon weapon_, well that's debatable," Toma chuckled, "but what I mean is that he isn't conjoined to a Meister. Which leads me to my next point!" Toma held up three fingers, "Our eater here is a weapon, a scythe matter of a fact! And may I say he has a very-" Toma leaned over his desk raising his eyebrows as he stared into the lens of the camera, making a connection with those who watched him at this second in time, "_Unique_ form, slender but it's able to morph."

Toma settled back down in his seat and cleared his throat, continuing with his list of fun facts about the murderer. "We have video of him that will be played after número four." He stuck up four fingers and smiled again but this time was smiling at his camera man.

"He holds regen abilities so he heals whenever he consumes, which is caught on _another video_ we weren't given permission to show because of higher authorities." Toma finished there and turned away from the camera giving a slight nod of his head to someone off-screen. He narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers then turned back to the camera giving his lovely audience a big smile.

"Now we haven't seen his face, he wears a cloak that covers almost every distinguishing characteristics and has a cloth mask-" Toma pointed at his mouth, he opened his mouth and began chomping his teeth, "that covers his mouth. But-" Toma winked at the camera making himself look animated and full of more life, "We see his eyes, which are windows into the soul."

The man jumped up from his seat with more energy than a man his age should have and walked off camera.

"Play the video!"

* * *

The quality of the video was surprisingly great, everything was rich with life and color and movement wouldn't be shown with a low frame-rate.

Crystal clear.

The first sound that was heard was the cry of various guns going of in unison, the bullets roared as they flew out of the guns aiming to pierce the monster who was swift on his toes. The next audible sound was screams and for a moment nothing could be seen when the cameras movement became jerky with a gun pressed over it blocking the view of the gruesome scene.

More bullets erupted from a distance creating a loud static that the camera picked up on.

"Keep firing!" A man yelled and that's when the view was no longer obscured by the gun.

Bullets shredded through the night and charged at the slim figure who seemed to dance with an elegance as he escaped each violent round.

One bullet finally landed on him that came from a small handgun and black blood began pouring out of his stomach and dribbling down onto the street.

He pressed his hand against the wound and brought his fingers up to his eyes that were cloaked by the shadow of his hood. "Ya got me!" He shouted with a tint of amusement in his dark voice letting his arm fall to his side calling forth another spray of bullets that were made special just for him.

"Stop getting in my way!" He screamed, the anger vibrating in his throat when he let out a growl. He lifted his arm up into the air allowing his arm to morph into a blade that hasn't been seen before on any type of weapon in any generic form.

The blade was white spiderwebbed with black veins that seemed to have their own pulse, each throb of the black veins imitated the sound of a heart, a low quick thud that most likely matched his own heartbeat.

_"None of you! None of you!" _He shouted as he charged forward, pulling his arm back as he came closer to an officer near the man who had the camera some where on his uniform.

The eater slammed his blade into the mans gut causing blood to splash out of the mans body, he jerked his blade up with all of his strength at an incredible speed. The man who was once hole was now in two with his insides glistening in the street lamps light.

With another officer downed the eater ran, but not for the camera man, for the crowd of officers still constantly firing at him. The man with the camera pinned on his uniform chased after the eater with his breaths labored and short with each heavy step he took.

The man stopped in his tracks when the eater began _morphing_ as he ran towards his enemies, his cloak began lifting up when something began tearing out of his back.

And that's when it was seen, the thing that Toma was talking about. Blades tore out from his spine and angled towards his enemies, all of the blades white with black veins wrapped all around them. The eater stopped in his tracks the bullets piercing his body all over and then the blades stretched out and pierced the five people that were shooting at him.

As soon as the blades passed through the five officers bodies the blades began folding away and then just pieced away from reality. For a brief moment you could see the wounds on his back from the places that the blades emerged from, the wounds were thick and were in various spots all over his back.

He walked over to the people and checked if they were dead by slamming his arm-blade down into their awaiting chests.

He quickly turned around and stared dead ahead at the man who wore the camera on his uniform, his eyes still not visible under the downcast of his hood.

"Everyone...E-e-everyone is..." The man stammered as he staggered back.

The eater nodded his head and began walking forward with his body heavily wounded and he didn't even seem the least bit weakened.

"They're all dead..." He finished dragging his bladed arm behind himself as he walked towards the last officer standing.

The man's finger twitched on the trigger but he couldn't pull it, he knew he was doomed. If one man can take down five men at once then he isn't going to get lucky, his fate is sealed.

"And you are next!" The eater ran towards the man who sunk down onto his knees and slammed his blade into the guys chest.

The camera got an awkward up angle of the eater's jaw line able to see underneath the cloth of his mask slightly when the man collapsed.

The eater began pulling his blade out of the man's chest, the camera jerking around as he tore out the blade and allowed his arm to take it's natural form.

"Still have a bit of life left, coward..." The eater muttered his voice barely audible, but luckily the video gave that part subtitles.

He kneeled down over the man letting all the people watching this video at this moment think that he was about to show some sort of humanity but instead were given his true nature.

"Do you feel sleepy? I _always_ felt really tired when I was about to die, I'm tired now, but not because I'm dying. I'm _always_ in pain so don't complain about the pain to me." The eater peered down at the man showing off a violent hue of red to the camera that was his eyes, studying his panting scared victim.

_"You're just a human who can't even_ _feel souls._ Left the wrong one alive... Damn..."

His slim bony fingers began growing this white metal that connected his joints and then his hand was a small curved blade. "What a sad way to die..."

The blade approached the camera and then things went blank ending in static with the only thing able to be heard was the sound of flesh tearing.

The video abruptly stopped there and went back to Toma whom was back to sitting in a chair with a father-like look adorning his face.

"The chip to the officers camera was salvaged...cleaned..." He paused and averted his eyes to the ground, he turned back up to the camera and smiled. "So I guess our número five fact is that this eater came here in search of something quote - _'none of you' and 'you're just a human who can't even feel souls.'_ He seemed really desperate there, didn't he? So what brought this eater to our city?"

And that's when Maka turned off her television unable to watch another second of the live news.

She sat on the couch with her long legs crossed with a deepening frown finding its way onto her face. The sight she just witnessed was more than disturbing, she hated it, her stomach is still feeling heavy from that video...

The eater is just causing more and more pain, taking more and more lives, leaving people missing their loved ones because he's the one who stole their lives away. The people who were killed on that clip just now had family, they had family who were probably watching that clip, watching their own loved ones fall to his blade.

Maka hates the eater, she can't stand _it,_ or more likely _him_ since his sex has finally been confirmed. But even with all the hate she harbors towards him there is something about him...

_Why do I feel like I know him?_

She asked before she stood up from the couch and headed into her kitchen to get something to eat, which probably wasn't the best idea when she feels like she could throw up at any second.

She opened up a cabinet having to stand up on her tip-toes to get a full vision of all of the contents.

_Who is he?_

She shut the cabinet not really interested with what it held and headed down the hall, giving up on eating for the night.

_What is so-_

His red eyes flashed before her eyes, they were dark, and void of any sort of emotion making him appear less human while wearing the face of a human.

_That was it!_ His eyes, his eyes were what seemed familiar... They're red just like Soul's... But Soul's eyes always held some sort of life, some sort of glistening brilliance, his were just empty, lacking every ounce of life.

_Those two are nothing alike _she told herself angrily, mad that she would even compare them. The two of them are on completely different wavelengths.

Amazing how it's been a year with no appearance of Soul... He's been gone deemed K.I.A and for a while Maka didn't want to believe it, but after a year... She just kind of fell back into the crowd, then fell away from them, living her life with minimal contact trying to solve things herself...

She has searched for Soul, she tried to find his location just by going to places that he loved at the beginning, and now she sees how stupid that was of herself. After a month of him being gone she tried to find his soul, she ended up exhausting herself looking for a wavelength that has probably been erased for a while...

And the messed up thing about the eater is that she can constantly feel his crushing wavelength, his soul is heavy and dark, in her reach yet out of it. The soul always seems to be howling in agony probably just the way he is and she doesn't feel sorry for the thing one bit. Why should she show compassion to a monster who hasn't showed anyone compassion?

Maka found her way to her room, as soon as she was in her room she collapsed onto her bed and allowed her eyes to shut. She has to try and get some rest or else she won't be ready for tomorrow, rest equals strength, or that's some bull that Kid has kept telling her.

She laid there in silence the only thing heard was the heavy thumping of her heart in her chest.

**_Lub...Dub...Lub...Dub_**

With each beat came a tingling sensation that rushed through her limbs and coursed through to her fingertips. She tried to ignore her heart and her soul, but something felt like it was pushing on hers, trying to forcefully pull it away from the rest, it hurt.

Tiny clawed fingers pressed against her chest and that's when she jolted upright. She wrapped her arms around her chest and trembled, _that thing is after me, _she hugged herself tighter to make the pain go away. She can still feel the claws, the touch is faint, it's not even really there, but _something_ is trying to grab her soul... She feels so exposed.

_It's like he's here trying to reach_ _into my chest and pull my soul out to consume..._

She dug her nails into her arms, gritting her teeth in agitation, and forced herself off her bed her feet landing on the cool wooden surface of the floor.

"Why are you coming after me...?" She asked in a small voice scared that he could be outside waiting for her. She walked out of her room, slightly jumpy, and headed back into the living room where she felt more at ease.

She laid down on the sofa curling up into a ball resting her head on her arm.

_He came to Death City in search of_ _something... In search for me?_

It's obvious he was trying to find her, it's been obvious for about a month now, he's been tearing through the city in search of her soul. But what significance does her soul hold for him, why not go for the Shinigami's, the grandest soul here. What's so special about hers?

The pains started a long time ago, she didn't quite understand the aches until she felt his terrifying wavelength around a month ago. Since then she has told Kid and pretty much about everyone that she is comfortable with, she _had_ to tell Kid though... He promised her protection and even offered his own home to her, inviting her in when she is a danger to everyone just by being there, she had to refuse that offer. And he even offered to stay here with her, but she couldn't say yes, she didn't want him to get killed with her if things came to it...

So instead of her dear friends surrounding her investigators do, they stay inside of homes they were moved to that are an eye-view from hers. She feels safe but she knows that she isn't, hell that thing took down 37 officers today and he'll be striking again tonight.

Sleep doesn't come to easy to her, it never has, so she just laid there staring at the blank TV screen waiting for the sun to rise. Trying to rest is too hard when all she can manage to do is think horrible thoughts about herself and the person who has slipped right out of her life.

"Hopefully tomorrow doesn't suck..." She signed as she pulled her knees closer to her stomach.

And that was only wishful thinking, as she rose from the couch with only an hour of sleep driving her she hit her head on her dresser when she tripped over her discarded clothes. She gently rubbed her head feeling the swelling of her skin already and cursed underneath her breath. She pulled herself up and finished putting on some fresh day clothes and headed into the bathroom to examine the damage.

She gently prodded the red bump on her forehead agitating it to no end causing herself more pain each time her fingertip pressed against it.

"Uhhh..." She groaned, giving herself a glare as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, "Nice one Maka..." She sighed, accepting the little abrasion and continuing with her day wondering what else she could possibly screw up this time. She already bumped her head on her dresser what else really could go wrong?

Maka left out of her house, closing and locking the door behind herself, and began walking the short distance to the DWMA.

On her way to the DWMA there was a small group of young children throwing around a basketball, not playing basketball just catch. When she saw them a smile twitched against her lips that she couldn't resist. Three little kids, they're growing up together, getting closer everyday, _they're friends._

She turned away from them, shoving her hands into her pockets like her weapon used to hearing joyful laughter roar out from the little children. She enjoys kids, to an extent, and these kids playing now are the same kids she sees about every week when she walks to the DWMA, it's like they are out on this day to greet her.

She kept walking with her blond hair whipping behind herself, the laughter suddenly died from the children, and she couldn't resist the urge to turn around and investigate.

As soon as she turned around an orange ball collided against her face, knocking her to the ground, not from force but from surprise. She sat on the ground with the ball nestled in her lap and hands cradling her head.

_It hit my head! It hit the fricking bruise!_

"I didn't mean to hit you!" A young girl shouted as she hurried down by Maka's side.

Maka cringed at the voice, the shouting not really helping ease the throbbing pain away including from a high pitched voice like that.

"I'm-I'm really sorry!" The girl pressed her hand against Maka's shoulder trying to get her attention, honestly worried, "You okay?"

The young girl was just trying to be caring and attentive but Maka wasn't going to have it, she's cranky, and her head feels like it's about to explode.

"I'm fine!" Maka shouted as she pulled her hands away from her head and glared at the young girl who was now trembling. She didn't mean to scare the girl, but she did a good job of it, the girl who was willing to apologize and see if Maka was alright looked so crushed.

Maka placed her hand over the ball, squinting when the pain swelled making everything before her move rapidly. "It's okay..." She breathed out and rolled the ball off her lap to the young girl who looked like she was about to run away with her tail between her legs. "Sorry for yelling, really..." Maka pressed two of her fingers against her temple and began massaging the area to release some of the tension, the little girl held the ball in her hands but she didn't move she sat right in front of Maka waiting, waiting for some revelation.

Maka peered at the girl then looked past her head to see her friends playing what looked like tag, they had moved on while she came here to apologize.

"Aren't you Maka?" The girl asked in a small voice, so small and quiet it almost couldn't be heard.

Maka snapped her eyes back to the girl and nodded her head. "Yeah, I am... Again sorry for yelling at you." Maka said as she stood up and dusted off her jeans.

The girl stood with her with her eyes big matched with an even bigger smile. "I'm going to the DWMA next year! My older brother says amazing things about you! Like you are the best Meister ever!" When the girl spoke her joy flickered in her eyes and her words just made Maka smile sadly.

She isn't the best, she never was, it was a team-effort of her and Soul being able to work so profoundly well together... And he isn't even a part of her life anymore, she squeezed her fists by her sides, and forced the smile to stay as she turned away from the girl scared that she would say something horrible to someone so young.

"I'll see you soon then!" Maka cringed at the girls halcyon voice, not able to understand how that girl is so happy when she just turned and walked away from her.

_This day just keeps getting worse..._

First she bumped her head on her dresser. Second she was hit in the face with a basketball. Third she probably hurt that nice little girls feelings.

In the next ten minutes she was at the DWMA inside of the school, already done hiking up those stairs with ease. Funny how the stairs never really bothered her, they were just there proving a challenge to others while she simply glided up them, even her partner had problems hiking up these steps.

She hurried down the halls and found the entrance to Kid's office. She knocked on the door then pushed it open, not really caring for privacy since he wouldn't be doing anything weird in his own office.

Instead of using the Death Room Kid prefers this office, but he does utilize the Death Room for surveillance and communications across the world, but in here he organizes things and makes plans while scribbling away in a leather bound journal, dedicated to his work.

And when Maka pushed through the door Kid was scribbling away in his notebook like he didn't even notice that someone knocked on his door.

"Hey Maka..." Kid greeted without looking up from his notebook, confirming her questioning gaze that he did hear her knock.

Maka shut the door behind herself so people wouldn't listen to them as they spoke. With the door shut she pulled out a chair and sat down resting her chin on his desk.

"Hey Kid," she said with a slight wave of her hand over his eyes so he couldn't see what he was writing causing him to mess up. His hand-writing was perfectly neat and then came one dragged out black line that set the balance off of the page.

Kid dropped his pen letting it roll off of the notebook and looked up at Maka with a smirk, "Really? That was childish." He snorted with an eye roll as he shut the leather bound journal.

Maka smirked, "Aren't you going to freak out and fix it?" She asked in an innocent voice as she pulled her head up from his desk and propped her elbows up in place.

Kid chuckled and ran his fingers through his well kept black hair with three horizontal white stripes wrapped around his head, he's as symmetrical as ever, something he takes some sort of weird pride in.

"Fixing it would be pointless with you in here, you'll make me spill white-out all over the paper." He said in a know-it-all voice turning his gaze away from hers for a moment to find something.

"Yeah you're right, I probably would have." Maka admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. She peered at the Shinigami who was leaning to the right with you his eyes darting to one place and another. "Uhh, what are you looking for? Need help?"

Kid ignored her and pulled open a few drawers of his desk, pulling out piles of documents that didn't matter and slapped them on the desk.

Kid just kept digging through his desk piling up so much crap on the desk that Maka couldn't even see him, it didn't even make sense how that much paper could be stuffed inside of this tiny little desk. Maka's eye began twitching in aggravation after ten minutes passed with Kid just searching for some unknown thing.

"I had it an hour ago damnit!" Kid cursed and began pushing the documents back into his desk coming into her view finally. When he looked up at her he was met by a harsh green gaze that he just smiled off uneasily. "Those had some important details about why you're here..." He sighed heavily, then saw the abrasion on her forehead bright and red.

"Did you fall out of bed this morning?" Kid asked and Maka just shrugged, "You didn't even go to bed last night did you...?"

She didn't answer him, he already knew the answer.

Kid slapped his hands against the table giving her a sour look, "Maka I don't know if you can handle the next things I asked you to come here for, you aren't even sleeping right still which says something about your health! And it's too late to see a therapist..." Kid trailed off for a moment a look of guilt silencing his voice for a second, but soon he continued, "I have some news that may not be something you want to hear that I've known about for a week that _will_ hurt..."

Maka nodded her head, sitting still in her seat awaiting his next words patiently feeling her heart beat quicken at the anticipation. Whatever he's about to say is important, when they had coffee that day last week he seemed frayed even a little distant and told her he had some important things to say to her that would be difficult to take. They agreed to meet next week, today, and talk about it. The conversation they are about to have is the only reason she is even here.

"So I'm sure you've heard a bunch of news about the eater this past week since we've been learning a lot about him with Toma's squad. They've done a great job at finding evidence and decoding situations properly, almost too well, and they've been able to link a..." Kid put two of his fingers up, one up on each hand, "case with another case." And brought those fingers together.

Maka nodded her head not seeing how this effected her directly, but then realized:

_Oh, yeah! The eater is after me!_

At that realization her eyes locked with his and she was ready for some sort of harsh impact of words bracing herself thinking that he was going to say something like the eater is getting closer, or killed someone they know... It definitely isn't that he is getting closer, Maka already knows that much. So it has to be that he has killed someone they are close to.

But, no, instead he said this, said something she never expected, said something she didn't brace for that literally left her speechless.

"They linked Soul's case to the eaters. They played a video on the news, I don't know if you saw it but it showed the eater killing..."

Maka tensed up, her mind racing, and her heart pounding in her chest. At the mention of Souls name in the same sentence as the eaters made her world piece away from her. She dug her nails through her jeans watching as Kids mouth moved hearing his calm voice trying to explain things to her without making her freak out, but she was freaking out.

_Red eyes... They both have red eyes! _She kept thinking then cursed herself for thinking they are the same but then kept thinking the same thing over and over again, that thought becoming the only coherent thought going through her head.

"No the eater didn't kill Soul, so don't- don't worry about that..." Kid stood up from his chair and walked over to Maka, he kneeled down next to her and placed his hand on her back tilting his head up to look her in the eyes as she held her head down.

"In the video that _couldn't_ be shown, the one I restricted from showing... The eater was unmasked... We know who he is. The only reason we didn't show that video along with the other one is-"

"Because of me..." Maka spoke in a shaky voice with her lips trembling. She snaked her hands up to her chest feeling her heart repeatedly slap against her palm, she can hear her heart beat and feel it as her world fell to pieces around her. She kept her eyes on Kid seeing his lips drawn together in a sad smile that wanted to share her sorrows but could never understand them on the same level.

"They have made a deduction that Soul is the soul eater."

And she asked herself earlier how could this day get any worse and now she regrets asking that because it seemed to be a challenge to everyone around her.

* * *

**Hey! Welcome to the end of the chapter! Glad to see ya stuck around! **

**I honestly did not expect to post this, I did get some positive messages which did make me smile a bit so I decided to post it. Sorry to those of you I rambled to... You're amazing for listening, well, reading...**

**Also say hey to some new characters! Gotta introduce new ones, you don't want to strictly stay tied to the original ones. **

**The journey shall continue!**


	3. Chapter 2 - Reclaiming The Death Scythe

**Woo! Another update that was such a pain in the ass! My editor kind of abandoned me recently so I began reviewing my own work and things just kept getting worse! I had this document uploaded for a while and intended to edit it and did, in total I edited this thing five times! Five! Fricking! Times! The first four times I nearly completely finished editing but things shut down on me! So the fifth time, my last time editing I just said screw it... I'll fix my mistakes later but now I'm too mad!**

**Sorry, I'm just so steamed right now...**

**I am not going to lie, I tried to make a lot happen in this within a day's time - I mean within the story...**

**Idk if this is too long or too short, I'm so conflicted...**

**EDIT: I scanned through this and fixed some mistakes and added a few things! **

* * *

**_Chapter Two_**

Maka's mind was completely wiped blank as everything weighed down on her shoulders.. Just those words, those words that Kid spoke, rang through her ears. Then there was a clenching in her chest, it was brief, sharp and painful, and it made her want to hit something... Kid or the wall. Anything!

Then it sank in. Soul was gone. Not dead. He'd just up and vanished with no trace for a year and then comes back to Death City wearing a new deadlier exterior that almost makes him unrecognizable.

The pain and anger flared in her chest, she couldn't understand why she was so mad, but she was and she didn't know how to deal with this enigma of emotional problems.

_He's alive! _He has air rushing through his lungs, a pulse, and is a... killer... Just that single thought made things worse, made her gut twist and her mind reel back.

_He's a killer and he is after me..._

Her eyes widened at that realization, she pulled herself up from her seat pushing Kid away from her in the process and began chewing at her nails.

"Maka?" Kid asked in a small voice wearing a cloak of guilt all over his face.

Maka let her eyes land on him and stopped chewing her nails, the anger she had still remained, she still has the urge to hit something. She didn't want to resolve things with violence because it would be pointless and Kid isn't the one who has done anything wrong, Kid is the good guy here just trying to be a considerate friend.

She dropped her hand away from her mouth, swaying from side to side when dizziness took a spin on her, she stood tall never-the-less, and cleared away her pain.

"Show me the video." She said in a strong voice without one break or pause to show how unsure she really was about this decision.

It was obvious Kid wanted to protest but he didn't say a word instead he just clenched his jaw and bit into his bottom lip giving her the slightest nod of his head. He motioned her to sit back down and she did, when she was sitting he stepped behind his desk and opened up the drawers that were full of papers. Underneath all of that rubbish was a small little chip in a small plastic case that kept it from breaking, Kid opened up the case, pulled out the thin memory card and placed it inside of a slot on the side of the television that was built into the wall.

Before he turned on the Tv he walked over to her to be by her side again and then turned on the Tv with a small remote.

Maka looked up at him for a moment his eyes refusing to meet hers in her time of need. She buckled herself down then shivered when she heard hard heavy breaths being taken and realized that they were coming from the screen.

There in the midst of a bloody mess stood Soul covered in red and black with his cloak and mask on, before him bodies were littered with some of those bodies identified as weapons in half of their form.

Just knowing that this is Soul now somehow made this sight more horrifying. Yeah it's a killer, and that's terrifying all on its own, but this killer on screen is someone she knows, someone she holds dear.

He fell down to his knees above the camera, his red eyes glistening with what looked like tears. In a quick movement he reached his hands up to his leather mask and yanked it down, as soon as it was down he coughed up large amounts of black blood. His face paled as he continued to cough up what keeps him alive, he strained to stop, but couldn't.

So Maka just sat there unable to do anything, unable to nurse him back to health, just allowed to watch as he sputtered up black blood in large amounts.

Finally he stopped with his eyes puffy and red from all of that strain on his lungs. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and let out a low hic, the sweat now evident on his brow.

"Poison..." He rubbed his throat letting out a low breath, muttering curses along with a slur of other words that made no sense. "It hurts... It hurts... Why?"

He was staring down at the lifeless body strewn out underneath him covered in a large amount of his blood and their own. His eyebrows knitted together and his rage became clear when he solidified it with a dark glare that made it look like he was staring into the camera at the people watching him.

He slammed his fist against the lifeless body causing the camera to jerk around with the heavy hit, a loud thud resonating from his fist meeting their chest. He pulled his lips back in a snarl and just kept slamming his fist against their chest with tears falling from his eyes, "Why!? Why did you do this to me!? I hate you! I fucking hate you!" He yelled with his eyes squeezed shut.

He's delirious probably from a loss of blood and he's screaming about things that make no sense. Maka wanted to decode his words, she tried to, but nothing made sense. He's just yelling random things but they don't feel random... In between his curses, his pleads, his screams, there is something there that he's showing...

Right now he looks so vulnerable even with the blood smeared across his face, unlike the other video she can see something within him that proves he has some sort of feelings even though they only seem to be for himself.

"Why did you take it from me!?" He screamed, his eyes opening the camera flourishing with the color of his red hues. "I want it back! I want them back!" He began pulling at the ends of his hood, his fists tightening and untightening around the fabric.

"I have to find them..." He muttered, trembling as he rocked back and forth with a tight grip on the ends of his hood. "I have to find you..."

His eyes seemed to meet Maka's even though they are miles apart and her heart shook, she sucked in a deep breath feeling the same shivers he was suffering.

"I have to!" He yelled out again, opening his mouth wide as he screamed to the world, his teeth as sharp and as threatening as ever.

He opened his mouth to say something but then began to shake, he let his eyes drop down to his body feeling strange sharp pains shoot all over, and let out a loud yelp. To battle off the pain he shook his head heavily causing his hood to fall down, his white hair was wild, wild as always, just barely tamed and held back by a black head band. His hair hasn't really changed at all or grown in length, it looks like it always does, probably one of the only features about him that hasn't altered subtly.

"I'm going to die!" He laughed as he felt around his stomach for his wound that was gushing black.

His laughter made her cringe, just hearing him howl at his own suffering confirmed that he's gone in many ways.

"I'd better eat..." He abruptly silenced his laughter and sat up straight giving his dead victim a twisted smile. He yanked his arm back then pushed it forward with incredible speed.

**_Craaacck...!_**

**_Crunch!_**

The sounds of the persons bones breaking echoed through the camera and you could hear Soul as he shifted around inside of the persons chest. When he yanked his hand out of their chest he held a plump blue soul with a blue ethereal glow that slightly lit up his face with a soft blue light. He tilted his head back and swallowed, his Adam's apple moving up then down, and he let out a satisfied sigh.

Maka stared at him blankly, stared at his mouth where the soul once was.

_ He just ate someone..._

"I'll keep looking tomorrow..." He muttered as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt again. He stood up, the blood no longer streaming out from his shoulder and stomach, the blood remained but the gaping holes didn't, it's almost like they never even happened.

"I need to eat more..." He began walking away from the body getting farther away, slowly disappearing from their view.

"I'll find her..."

_What? _Maka trembled and turned to Kid, she didn't know if she heard him right, but it really did sound like he said,_ 'I'll find her.'_

Kid finally turned to Maka giving her this apologetic look then finally said, "It's him, no doubt, that's our Soul... But is he really?" Kid pressed the small red button on the remote, the TV screen going blank.

Is he really our Soul? He isn't the same person anymore, that's so obviously clear that it's just a punch to the gut. Soul has changed and not for the better. But what brought on this change? That's the question that they both kept asking themselves but couldn't come up with any sort of reliable answer.

"The team I hired around a month or so ago has been trying to decipher these clips, of course immediately linking things to you." Kid began speaking, not really to her, he's just letting his thoughts spill out into the open upon her waiting ears. "He did disappear and not willingly so. So someone must have taken him and made him into a monster..." Kid began pacing back and forth not even noticing that he was rapidly moving to one side of the room to the other.

Maka watched as the Shinigami paced muttering his thoughts in a quiet voice with his eyebrows furrowed. Kid has known that it was Soul for a long time now, and just knowing who it is has probably costed lives since he's waited to reveal information on her behalf. She doesn't really know if that was a smart move or not, she doesn't see how she fits into all of this quite yet, but Kid did say something about her helping.

How could she possibly help? She can't fight Soul, she has no weapon and refuses to get a new one, and she will not ever work with Excalibur. She's weak without Soul and he is so strong without her, even though he uses that strength in the worst ways.

"So why did you wait to show me?" Maka decided to ask, finally growing tiresome of just thinking and watching as the Reaper mumbled incoherent things under his breath. "Well... I mean I understand why..." She tapped her fingers against her knees feeling his eyes on her, "what benefit do I have to this?"

Kid smiled, an almost triumphant smile. "The only good news here today is that Soul has a high chance of being taken in alive instead of being flat out killed and you are the one we would use to do so. Obviously it's dangerous, but we need him, we have to figure out what happened to him and see if it could possibly happen to others because you and I both know Soul wouldn't do these things with a clear mind."

Maka nodded her head, that is true, Soul wouldn't do any of the things that he just did on that video, he wouldn't have killed a human at all unless they were a danger to someone he cares about. But she didn't grasp the concept of how they could use her without her just being killed in sight, Soul doesn't seem to be a very rational person who's willing to listen to words...

But maybe he'll think things through if he senses her soul!

The plan began unfolding before her, she understood what they wanted done, what they intended to accomplish by using her. She didn't care if she was just some sort of pawn that has a fifty/fifty percent chance of surviving. Just being given the option to bring Soul back from the twisted world he's fallen so hard into is liberating on a whole other level. With Soul back in her life the emptiness would fade.

If she refused to help them, help the world, then each life that he takes will be taken and she would feel guilty for it. She wasn't able to have a choice in the matter.

"I'll help!" She said nearly catching her friend off guard as he slumped down into his seat, she could practically hear the desperation in her own voice. "I'll do whatever I have to if it means that we can bring Soul back!"

And that's what Kid wanted to hear, he had to have her approval to put the plan into motion. She didn't know how things would work out and could only see two endings, one was as good as things could get and another was just messy.

Upon her agreement to work on the case she was introduced to the people on this case who have been weeding out every little detail that they possibly can. She traded the small squad kind hello's and was given an applause for what she was putting on the line - her own neck.

The last person she met with was an older gentleman, the man who was on the news showing one of the clips, his name is Toma. He looks like he's in his late thirties or early forties, gracefully aging with a few grey hairs here and there that didn't really seem to bother him. He's a strange, happy man with a different way of viewing things which is probably why he has made so much progress with this case.

And for the remainder of the day she spent time with the small squad of thirteen members including Kid who stayed to monitor things on her behalf. Everyone settled down and began working through tactics, trying to ensure that Maka would make it out alive even if Soul didn't. A lot of arguments sprung up with Maka in the midst of them, screaming at the people for their lack of empathy, which only earned her snide comments and eye rolls.

For a little while she doubted if she wanted to work with these people, but knew if she backed out more people would be dead.

And more people will be dead tonight, or would be if it hadn't been for Toma and his bright idea.

"If we want things done we have to do them soon. I'm tired of bloody scenes and cleaning them up, and I'm sure the people who have lost so many are tired of it happening on this little repeat. Let's finish this tonight and close the case of the eater!" As soon as he spoke the room fell silent.

Kid opened his mouth to protest but someone beat him. A young male with light blonde hair, lighter than Maka's stood tall with his hands pressed against the long mahogany table everyone sits at with his glasses falling down the bridge of his nose. "That's too dangerous! We don't have a good enough plan, we have ideas sure, but everything is just a cluster of disorganized words that haven't even been put through a trial and error situation analysis!"

Toma waved his hand at the blonde male and smiled warmly at him somehow making this moment feel tense. "All we need to do is provide her with an escape, and defend her if he tries to attack, simple. I say all of us go and ten officers accompany us, only officers who have graduated from the DWMA. Alex since you have so much to say you can start finding these people who will work with us now!"

The blonde, Alex, looked over at Toma with his violet eyes wide, he turned his gaze over to Maka who just shrugged her shoulders at him. Maka wanted things done now to, she liked how he stood up to defend her, and noticed Kid tried to, but didn't feel like anymore time should be wasted, Soul needs to be caught.

And with that things began falling into motion and everything was rotating around Maka, she was the center of it all in this attempt to rescue Soul from... himself.

Everything began happening so fast, today was a day full of bull crap that she was forced to endure. She had to deal with hitting her head, probably hurting a young girls feelings, and dealing with the tiny fact that Soul is in fact the eater, and now she is out to get him, to rescue him.

Things may start looking up from now on...

It isn't going to be easy to get to him and she isn't going to delude herself into thinking that it will because she has seen how he acts, he's hungry, ruthless, and doesn't mind to get caked in someone else's blood.

And if things go array the next life he could take could be hers...

By the time night fell a group of twenty three headed out to reclaim the broken down Death Scythe who has gone against his own. Ten people were officers who were wearing thick armor yet moved so swiftly as they ran through the night, and the thirteen others were the group of investigators who wore cloaks.

Surprisingly the member who goes by the name Alex is actually a witch you can say warlock if you want and the reason Maka couldn't detect that was because of the soul protect he was wearing and is still wearing. In a measure to make Maka's soul stick out he casted soul protect over everyone else's soul except for hers literally leaving her stranded out in the open.

Kid made an attempt to join in with the group earlier to be there if things started getting sloppy as another person Soul may recognize but Toma refused not wanting to risk the life of the Shinigami. Kid had to back down because if he didn't then no one would be able to rightfully take his place since he hasn't really taken part in any activities with a female that would produce a child. He's been too busy dealing with too much after the fall of the Kishin, it's a good excuse to not secure his blood line.

Under no circumstances was Kid to get involved, that's the point, and Maka under every circumstance is needed to get this thing under wraps. Even though there is a chance that things could actually just get worse.

"Toma! Down near Death Bazaar the eater has been sighted! We think he caught her scent!"

Toma nodded his head and recited those same exact words to the people who followed behind him.

"The Bazaar could make a very fitting place for us to maintain a good control on the situation with alleys and even some heights!" Andy spoke into his communicator instead of shouting out his idea to be heard.

Toma liked the idea too, the Bazaar is probably one of the most ideal places that can give them an upper hand on the morphing weapon. He pressed his ear piece and turned a small dial signaling the officer who just contacted him who isn't a part of the group of twenty three people.

"Hold him there, do what ever you have to, we'll be there shortly." Toma commanded and turned off his device so he wouldn't have to hear the tortured screams of the man when his life is torn right out of him.

"Someone relay the message to Maka to enter the Bazaar! She should get their first!"

"I gotcha!" A female called out to Toma.

Maka hurried down the streets hearing the light footsteps of her comrades padding after her in the distance. She kept running with her head held high with her coat tails fluttering behind her, she breathed at an even pace feeling the burn in her lungs from the physical exertion.

"Maka..." A females voice spoke into her ear piece making her jump slightly, "You'll be coming up on Death Bazaar, enter the area and be precautions because he'll be there."

Maka nodded her head, she didn't bother with replying, she had to keep going and she didn't want to mess up her breathing while she ran.

_Almost there... _She looked at the buildings that she passed by seeing a familiar coffee shop that she used to be fond of when she attended the DWMA, this landmark means she's close to the Bazaar.

Close by perhaps a block away and she could hear the screams of a man tear through the night causing her entire body to tremble. She knew what that scream meant, it was like a beacon in the night, a confirmation that Soul is here.

Maka felt the pain creep into her chest suddenly and knew that the eater had finally taken a full interest in her, for some reason that scared her more than it should because she couldn't hear the man scream, and the sound of her comrades weren't even heard either.

It felt like she was going to be alone, just Soul and her...

She slowed down finally once she rounded a corner and came to some stone steps, she walked the steps all while staring at the empty Bazaar that's always so lively in the morning.

He's here, she can feel his dark ominous presence surrounding this area having only one problem, she can't directly find his location... He feels near but he could just be in the vicinity of her soul perception, and her soul perception is very high.

Maka walked out into the middle of the Bazaar where a merchant would most likely set up camp and began surveying each corner through the darkness, wishing that the moon radiated some sort of light instead of blocking it away with its onyx cover.

The power of his soul is so painful... His need to find her, to pin point exactly where she was located was something that she could feel, she could feel his need his urgency to spot her out after searching for so long. The need to see him, the want to save him, drove her heart rate high.

And then she felt something tug at her chest, tug at her heart, at her soul. Any movements that she was making were halted, she froze, and a gentle breeze rushed past her.

_Where are you?_

She squeezed her fists by her side and knew he was close, knew he had to be here...

And he was.

Out in the distance covered in the blood of the officer she heard scream earlier walked Soul wearing his black cloak with his hood up and a leather mask over his mouth that was probably soaked in blood too.

Eerily this moment felt nostalgic and oddly enough she wanted to rush to him and embrace him with tears in her eyes, but she knew how that would end. Any sudden movements with him and she could be dead, just another soul added to his collection.

There he was approaching her slowly, not trying to rush this moment, trying to savor it just as much as she was. She almost couldn't believe it, she wouldn't believe it was him if she never saw those clips.

The feelings rushing through her were hard to contain and even harder to begin to express, there was anger blended in with happiness and sadness, all mixed together sloppily making her feel like a big mess about to burst.

She dug her heels into the ground and watched him approach knowing that his eyes were on hers, and soon he was right in front of her...

Soul is here in arms reach of her, he's tangible... She smiled at him sadly the tears beginning to form in her eyes, this moment is so utterly painful.

"I found you..." He spoke in calm voice with no hostility evident at the moment, he wasn't even moving to strike her like he did with the others.

_No I found you..._

That's what she wanted to say as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

He took another step towards her, his red eyes digging into her green eyes, searching her hues. He knew those eyes of hers were familiar, everything about the girl in front of him is including the clear tears rolling off of her chin.

She sucked in a deep breath, unsure of what to do now, she knew she needed to do something, but what?

"Try to reason with him... If things turn bad we'll subdue him with tranqs." Her communicator hummed in her ear with Toma's voice quiet as if not to be heard by Soul.

Soul narrowed his eyes at Maka when he heard the buzz of her communicator causing her to lock up. "What's that?" He asked as he reached out towards her with his blood soaked hands, the blood wasn't old, it was fresh.

Knowing that he has just freshly killed someone still didn't make her stop him, she allowed his hand near her face, hearing the voice of Toma telling her to be careful. His fingers ran past her cheek and brushed some of her hair out of her face, within a glimpse he caught sight of the small communicator and knew that something was off here.

"I've been looking for you for such a long time and I didn't even know who you were..." He dropped his hand away from her face slowly giving her a kind look that brought back memories for her. "My memories of you are gone..."

She let out a shaky breathe the tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry that I'm not able to feel what you're feeling. I'm sure if I could remember who you were I would be in tears also." He reached his hand up to his mask and pulled it down showing her his sullen look and then he pulled his hood down and just watched as her expression changed.

Just seeing him, seeing his eyes, his hair, being able to confirm that it's really Soul brought on more tears, but these tears were heavier.

"Soul..." She couldn't believe she was speaking to him, saying his name... "What happened to you?" Just asking that took so much of her strength, being here in front of him was exhilarating and exhausting all at once with the cluster of her emotions being her enemy.

He didn't answer that question instead he just kept his eyes locked with hers, she wished she knew what he was thinking right now, she guessed he was trying to remember her.

"I want to remember you..." He said softly and repeated it over and over again, "but the only way I can is if I eat your soul!" He was hysterical now with his red eyes wide and his pupils dilated. "I can't remember! I have to eat!" He took another step towards her and she took one back stumbling in fear. "But if I eat you and remember who you are I'll hate myself!" He was shouting now, like he was arguing with her but really just arguing with himself.

Maka kept backing away from him, suddenly scared by him as he shouted about eating her, and rightfully so.

He reached out towards her and her eyes locked on his darting hand. She opened her mouth to tell him to stop and calm down but he kept reaching for her and she thought he intended to strike.

She kept stumbling back then lost her footing when she came to the curb and began falling back.

Soul grabbed onto her wrist and fell with her nearly crushing her with his weight.

Underneath his body she felt her cheeks darken in embarrassment, and her heart beat fluttered, leaving her suspended in silence. With his chest pressed against hers she could feel his slow rhythmic heart beat and was more embarrassed by the fact that she enjoyed the warmth that he provided her even though he was crushing her.

She honestly didn't think Soul would be this warm...

He lifted away from her his hand still secure around her wrist and hugged his legs around her hips forcing her to stay underneath him which put her into a slight panic.

"Maka! Do you need help?" Alex asked.

_No... _Maka shook her head as she stared up at her weapon who looked dazed as he stared down at her. _He isn't going to hurt me,_ she told herself, trying to ignore the creeping doubt that followed her.

"Tell me your name..." He commanded with his nails digging underneath her skin.

She exhaled sharply and pressed her head against the concrete of the sidewalk, "Maka... I'm your-"

He cut her off when he let go of her wrist and pressed his hands against her chest. Color rushed to her cheeks and then anger began to flare out of her embarrassment, she wanted to yell but she was scared she would set him off, but feeling his hand there... It was so odd...

And he only made her feel worse when he leaned down and whispered, "Give me your soul..."

She shook underneath him, his hands pressing harder against her chest making her bite into her bottom lip when all of his weight felt like it was on her. He sits over her with his face close to hers, the scent of blood rising off of him reminding her of how monstrous he is.

Maka didn't know how to reach out for him, she didn't know how to stop him from being this. She wanted to help him with all her might but how can she help someone who can't even remember her!? She doesn't know what to do, she's panicking, she doesn't know how to make him remember.

"Please..." He begged her in a soft voice causing every part of her body to shut down. "I'll be fast, you'll barely feel a thing..."

His fingers snaked underneath the buttons of her coat causing the buttons to snap. He was now closer to her heart, her soul, waiting for her to give him his que.

He honestly doesn't know who she is, she's just another person for him with a strong soul. What will happen after he devours her? Will he feel guilty? Will he even remember her?

All of those thoughts helped her make her mind up and gather the courage she needed to say something to him. "I can't let you eat my soul..." As she spoke the tears came strong again leaving her vision in a blur, "You're my weapon! My best friend! You live with me!" She was shouting up at him now, her eyes on his and his on hers. "You've been by my side for years! You would always put my life before your own! You have a scar on your chest from that day you protected me with your life!"

Soul stared down at her taking in her words but it was apparent that he still couldn't remember anything. "I have scars, a plethora of them all over my body, you'll have to be more precise with where that scar is." A small smile twitched against his lips, and that smile struck fear in her heart.

She squirmed underneath his weight feeling his grip around her waist tighten, his knees digging in against her hips painfully, she wanted to scream out for help but she didn't want to give up that quickly.

"It's my instinct to eat, I live by consuming, I thrive..." He explained to her as he ran his bloody fingers across her arms. "I cant remember everything from your soul and I won't be in pain anymore if you're gone..." He was trying to convince himself of the decision he was about to make, she wanted to say something but was cut short when he slammed his palms into her wrists and stretched her arms out to her side, restricting her of any movement that would allow her an escape.

"But if you take my soul and you do remember me you will be in pain..." She whispered as she stared up at him catching a glimpse of someone in the distance on one of the buildings, this won't end well...

"Please Soul!" Maka begged twisting her wrists in his grasp forcing herself into an awkward sitting position that made her shoulder blades and spine ache.

They were face to face now, eye leveled and all, there was something in his eyes that told her he understood her words, but his grip still didn't loosen on her it actually just tightened making a simple sitting up position feel like hell.

"You can remember me without consuming my soul! Come on Soul! I'm right here!" Maka shouted at him, her eyes were narrowed, her eyebrows furrowed, he's pissing her off. "I'm right freaking here! You know who I am! Come on you idiot!" She yelled even louder her voice tearing through the night, when she stopped yelling everything was silent, not one sound could be heard in the night except for her own heart and heavy breathing.

Soul shivered, his mind going blank, he didn't know if he could do it. With his victims he usually doesn't hesitate, but with her he is... Why? Why is he hesitating? He tightened his grip on her wrists again pulling her arms out further earning a scream from her that made him feel horrible.

He doesn't want to kill her! He doesn't! But it hurts so bad, it aches to be near her soul and not be able to understand who she is! Why can't he end her? She's helpless, she's sprawled out right before him her life literally in his clutches.

Why can't I kill you?! He beamed down at her, somehow hating himself more than he could hate her, she hasn't done anything wrong to him except exist outside of his memories.

He wants to remember her so bad...

"Don't be stupid!" She screamed at him still ready to put up a fight, even if it was just with words. "I'm your Meister, Soul! You're my weapon! Please! Please..." Her voice trailed off when she was swallowed by the sorrow of him being gone for so long.

When he saw her tears this time he let go of her wrists and began reaching around her to pull her in, not understanding why he had this sudden need to comfort her now.

As soon as she felt his grip loosen and vanish she made her move and pushed herself against him using all of her strength to knock him back. She was over him now, she didn't have the strength that he had so she knew she couldn't hold him down but at least just for a moment she could attempt to reach him.

Soul lay beneath her, staring up at her with a bland expression, he could barely care with what she had just done, so he didn't intend to fight her.

"Come on Soul..." She grabbed his shoulders and gave him as slight shake, "What do I have to do to make you remember!?" She slumped her shoulders and forced herself to stop crying.

"I don't know who you are, I can't remember... There is a thin slither there but that's it!" He shook his head feeling more pain curl around his gut, he can't let this happen, he has to remember her... This means so much to her and he can't bring himself to kill her so she has to mean something to him on some sub conscious level...

"Resonate with me..." Soul said as he grabbed onto her hands and pulled her down against his body making this moment get a little too personal.

"That's actually a great idea! If you two can establish a resonance he may be able to remember you! When he does we'll need you to cuff him, don't forget!" Alex called out in her ear making her cringe.

It is a great idea, if they can resonate then he'll most likely remember her... He'll be able to remember who she is, he'll be her Soul again!

She interlaced their fingers, determined to bring back her friend, and locked eyes with him for what felt like would be the last time. She let out a shaky breath and with that breathe she whispered soul resonance.

Soul heard her say it and nearly locked up completely, he kept his eyes open wide and grasped onto her soul using his own heightened perception.

She had herself wrapped around his soul, trying to blend in with it and make some sort of connection even if it was forced. His soul is so dark that it doesn't even feel like his own soul, but beneath the grimy layer she knows that Soul is still Soul. His soul is so cold though, like it really doesn't have any sort of life at all kind of like his empty eyes that are right now dilated. Static roared around their two souls, ripping outwards from their own chests igniting a bone-cracking pain inside of their bodies.

Maka let loose a scream collapsing against Soul, electricity coursing through her veins literally paralyzingly her with a constant shock rippling through her limbs. Everything hurt, everything ached. She buried her face in to the crook of his neck feeling something sticky against her cheek but she didn't care, she squeezed her eyes shut and let out another scream. She balled up her fists, the sensation beginning to burn and make her joints tingle, and she could taste something coppery in the back of her throat.

She could feel his agony...

And for him he just couldn't bare it, the world before him just melted away and he was back sitting in a lonesome chair in an old boarded up room that at that time only promised him his own demise.

"No..." He whispered as he began writhing in his restraints with his heart racing in his chest.

And then he saw her, she stood before him with her long light blue hair cascading down her right shoulder shimmering in the dim light with her dull red eyes pinned on him, mocking him. That's all she has ever done to him, mock him...

But then she smiled at him, not a cruel smile that he expected a kind one that only confused him. This entire moment here is confusing... She was so kind to him but why does he remember her doing horrible things to him?

What is this? He remembers what she used to do to him! She would keep him in here and slice into him or tie him up in the basement and beat the life right out of him... She tortured him over and over again, force fed him souls that he didn't want... She did so much to him, she made him the way he is, and she's the one who scrambled his memories...

He stopped fighting in his restraints and just stared at the woman in front of him, hating her, hating what she did to him, hating the things she made him do! He moved again, this time only slightly feeling no resistance at all when he moved, he looked down and realized his restraints were gone.

He narrowed his eyes at her and she just stood there with that same smile on her face that he just couldn't take anymore. She's going to pay for taking everything away from him, without a second more, without his fear holding him back, he lunged out of his chair at her with the cuffs still secured around his wrists. The broken chains clicked against each other as he sat on top of her stomach.

"You made me devour all of those people!" He shouted down at her her expression still not changing at all, it was like she was a mindless zombie, and he was an emotional wreck. "You made me do horrible fucking things and I'm not going to let you live!" He leaned down, his lips pulled back in a snarl and inhaled her scent smelling her fear...

"Stop!" She screamed in a voice that wasn't her own, the realization of what is going on hitting her hard.

Soul grinned at her like a devil and kept leaning down towards her, "I'm going to eat you like you made me do to all those people!" He opened his mouth wide and held her down using his strength as his benefit surprised that she wasn't putting up any sort of fight, all she did was scream at him to stop. This is almost disappointing, she held him back for so long and tortured him and this is how things wrap up, with her being helpless instead of putting up a fight and being ruthless.

"Soul!" She called out his name, her voice urgent and not her own making him feel timid about what he was about to do, but he kept going and he clamped his jaw shut around her neck. All of her screams seized and turned into heavy wheezing, he pulled himself back and went down again tearing at her flesh again.

Her meat tasted sweet, her blood filled his mouth, and he could feel each breath she took in and savored. He tightened his teeth around a muscle on her neck and began pulling feeling some heavy resistance but eventually tore it free feeling her energy slowly leave her body. It kind of sounded like wet velcro slowly tearing apart...

He swallowed down the muscle and licked his lips and moved down to her shoulder, he's going to devour every part of her body until nothing remains while she's alive. She's going to pay for making him suffer like this!

He pulled back and opened his mouth wide, just to see the look in her face he turned to look at her. Her eyes aren't red they are green, small green eyes only partially opened struggling to stay that way with blood pooling out from her lips.

_Wait... No... What...!?_

And suddenly something passed through his stomach and shoulder simultaneously, he squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to see the damage and when he opened them back up again he saw Maka limply laying beneath him hardly even breathing with a gaping hole in her neck constantly bleeding.

"Ma-Maka..." Her name spilled out from his lips. _When did I bite her? No... No... I didn't mean to hurt you!_

The thing inside of his stomach ripped out and that's when he felt the pain. His back was just ripped into all the way through his stomach, he wanted to scream but couldn't manage to get one out just like Maka. And then the thing that jabbed through his shoulder was yanked free the hole that it left dripping a mass amount of black blood that tried to pull things back together. The blood couldn't repair the wounds though, in fact the blood began rejecting him making more wounds appear on his body.

He couldn't scream, the pain just coming at him so fast that he couldn't take it all in, there was so much pain... It felt like he was with _her_ again, in_ her_ grasp being tortured...

"Pull him off of her!" A man screamed.

"She needs medical attention now! Get him away from her! Tranq him!"

Two hands hooked underneath his arm, they were both rough with one hand smaller than the other letting him know that it's two different people hauling him up. He didn't want to go though, he wanted to help her, he wanted her to forgive him.

"No!" He screamed out at the people trying to twist in their grasps but was whacked in the back of the head with something metal that sent him in a daze. The two men continued to drag him away, his body slicked in a mess of black blood, new wounds opening up and spilling his insides on the ground.

His feet dragged against the concrete his body literally weightless, it felt so relieving, even the pain was gone...

He forced himself to look up and saw Maka on the ground with blood pooling beneath her rapidly. Four people were hunched over her and one man had his hands over her neck with a soft green light emerging from his palms.

_I finally found you..._

* * *

**Welcome to the end, thank you to those of you who have kept up with the story this far! **

**A lot of you have been asking me if I'm going to kill Soul off over the past few days and I'm just sitting there like - I can't tell you! Plus I haven't really made an ending... I have five chapters planned out and I'm constantly writing so really anything is possible. And killing off a character is often something not liked one bit, but it could definitely add some more drama!**

**I'll tell you this though:**

**Characters will die, I have ideas who will and I've already imagined how they will end.**

**Hope to see some regular readers again!**

**Have any thoughts or questions feel free to PM me or leave a review.**

**Have a great day or night while I silently rage!**


	4. Chapter 3 - Just A Piece

**Finally another update! **

**Sorry for the longer wait with this one! I wanted to warp some things and I edited out a lot of things that would have given the chapter length but I didn't want to give everything in a chapter, how boring. **

**I've been pretty busy lately so updates may be scarce. Let's just try and say weekly updates are going to become a norm and if I seem to miss a deadline don't be afraid to yell at me because sometimes I lose motivation.**

**I'll be working on a lot of different things in the next few months so be prepared if you are interested.**

**I will probably edit this chap. later.**

**Anyways here! Enjoy!**

* * *

**_Chapter 3_**

Prisoner – Soul Eater Evans

A.K.A. – _'Eater'_

Weapon Type – Scythe/ Death Scythe

Reason For Holding – Took the souls of over six hundred people…

Date – January 19th

Mr. Evans, his first real day within holding shows signs of withdrawal that I may be taking in the wrong way, perhaps it's just lack of sleep… The weapon is definitely out of it even though he's awake wearing a guilty look on his face that he should have. His memories are definitely back but some appear to be slightly hazy. He remembers his Meister Maka Albarn to the T but can't seem to remember other people such as Ox or even his best friend that well. I assume with his memories regained from the resonance link established he will not try to kill anyone else.

In a way it's like he suffers from the disorder schizophrenia, he has two personalities within himself – One that wants to feast upon the souls of the innocent and another that is repulsed by the very idea. Perhaps a physiologist is necessary, not just for one reason.

Just within asking a few questions more reasons were unveiled with these questions going as follows:

"Do you want to die?"

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Did someone harm you or hold you against your will?"

"Do you have any scars?"

"Can you let me examine your body?"

Soul denied everything but did give me one answer that at least seemed truthful. He answered my question do you want to die with a yes going on to say he can't live with what he has done.

He's very jumpy to the slightest of touches or any sort of repetition of any of the questions above. He does have scars evident on his limbs also which either suggest an injury he was given by an officer while he was deemed the Eater or something happened within the other part of the time that he was just known as missing.

One faint scar on his neck, and multiple ones running up and down his arms, they are hard to see but are there. It seems like not even his black blood rejuvenation was able to heal the scars.

Soul was deemed missing for thirteen months and the eater has been out for five, so within those thirteen months I am betting he was held and tortured. But by who? Why? Who would want to do something like this to a person?

Onto the relationship he has with his Meister and what happened a few nights ago. I asked him why he bit Maka and he fell into a trance and began saying because of her over and over and over again, he was afraid, he is afraid of this her. Who is this her? The woman triggered him into a state of panic that took him over an hour to calm down from and within his panic he turned to self harm clawing at the skin of his arms to tear anything off.

I didn't stop him, I had to experience his full reaction.

As he calmed down I asked him one last question. "Do you feel guilty about biting her?" Soul admitted how mad he is at himself, mad about everything he has done even though he wasn't really conscious of his own actions.

As the Eater he only seemed to follow the instinct of eating and searching for his missing half, however the question we need to ask is how will he act now? Will he follow the instinct of eating or will he return to his old ways?

To get Evans to work with us more I suggest using his Meister to draw information out of him, the sooner he works with us then the faster I can put my plan into action. He hasn't detailed us on anything that is really important so we are all trying to find things out by his small actions which has proved fruitful enough.

I request that he sees a doctor, one he knows and is comfortable with, because we need to check him out to see what other scars he has that his clothes hide. By tomorrow morning I want to see the results no later than that. If he refuses gag him, and while traveling through the halls put a bag on his head, we don't need his identity being given out.

And onto the topic of his identity. My team and the Shinigami spoke of this for hours and came to the conclusion that his name will not be tarnished to the public he will remain a Death Scythe but if he doesn't work with us soon he could possibly be executed. Without knowing how he turned to the Eater we'll be left blank and if he refuses to speak like he has then he'll need to face punishment. This decision came up when people noticed his scars and when Kid told us he doesn't act like this, so yes, there is obviously trauma.

No one can bring up his name and relate it to the Eaters, leave speculations to the internet forums. If people knew what he has done it would ruin a lot of people's names including his Meisters so not only are we sparing a murderer but we are sparing his friends, how generous.

Report by,

Lead Investigator Toma

* * *

Soul was shoved into a plain white room with the only light coming in was from the rays of sun spilling through the only window that was adjacent to the bed. There really wasn't much to the room at all except for some counters, stockpiled shelves filled with bottles and blankets, and a single cart in the front portion of the room with medical tools laying across a tray.

It's an empty room, not much to it, the only part that made this room feel vibrant was the world beyond the glass seal.

Unlike his holding cell this room feels open, less cramped with actual daylight giving his skin a warm kiss. The daylight is really just a bonus the thing that really makes him feel free is the fact that they uncuffed his hands and his feet giving him the liberty to move, but not so freely that he can leave, he can attempt an escape but the guards would probably stab him.

Not like his mind is occupied with leaving.

Soul let himself wander around the room, he walked to the tray and picked up a needle, he twirled the thin empty needle in between his middle and index finger then gently put it back down. His eyes hovered over to the scalpel and it ended up in his grasp winking up at him just smiling at all of the possibilities and potential it had to harm someone, to harm him. He put the small medical utensil down before his memories could come rushing up to bite him.

He settled down at the edge of the bed in the corner with his eyes staring into the distance through the window.

The sky is a light pink, kind of yellowish, with a supreme light blue color that stretched on forever. The sun has barely risen still barely hanging onto the horizon line bathing Death City in soft lively colors and lights. The colors were refreshing and crisp, something different than the dark tones that he's surrounded by usually, these colors are an escape from all of the bad.

But just being here all alone being trapped with his own numbing thoughts kills the moment of peace that he just found.

He tore his eyes away from the vibrant sky and propped his back up against the wall and brought his knees to his chest. He sat like this for a whole hour and within that hour he grew very agitated.

Where the hell is the doctor? A frown stretched across his face that seemed to find its permanent home.

Another hour went by all to quickly and Soul was pulled into the temptations of sleep not able to escape the drowsiness he got from this isolation. His eyelids fell shut heavily with his fears of waking up in a puddle of his own blood casted aside. He laid his head against his knees and eventually just drifted off even with his kneecaps digging into his face. When he went into heavy slumber his breaths became slow and rhythmic, each rise and fall of his chest gentle as he slipped into the claws of a nightmare.

The little slumber he slipped into was abruptly ruined, if you call being awoken from a nightmare ruined, when the door to the room slammed shut. His eyes snapped open wide and his pupils immediately contracted when the light took a sour turn on him. When his eyes adjusted to the lighting his heart literally skipped a beat when he saw the person who stood in front of him.

Black thread was looped through his skin and clothes, his hair grey and his eyes just as empty as his own.

_They told me it would be someone I'd be comfortable with... Hell I prefer Medusa as my doctor..._

He stared at the man then let his eyes fall on the tray where all of the tools of destruction were nestled, the disturbing thought that all of those things could have been inside of his flesh if that door didn't wake him up made his skin crawl in a way that made him want to pull himself out of his own skin.

"Hello, Soul Eater." Stein saluted with a wave of two fingers as he he walked over to the tray of supplies. Soul's chest swelled and his mouth went so painfully dry he could taste the blood lining out of the cracks when he saw the doctor twirl a scalpel in a gloved hand.

_He's going to gut me like a fish..._ _Cut me open, show my sick insides to the world! _Soul immediately turned towards the window when panic settled in his gut like a stone and he peered down with escape in his thoughts. He can jump out, he could if he wanted, but the ending result would be him being hauled back in here as a black bloody mess that no one would want to clean up.

Even with the images of his crash he wanted to jump so with shaky hands he reached for the window to pull it up but a man's voice stopped him.

"You really gave a new meaning to your name. Now, uhhh, Soul... What do you think you are doing?"

After Stein spoke there came a clatter of metal, Soul let his fingers drop away from the window and turned around to face the doctor relieved that he no longer held the thing that he feared.

He took in a deep breath feeling the grip that fear held on him loosen giving him the leniency that he needed to pull himself together.

"Nothing." He lied with a straight face and it was apparent they both knew he spoke a lie.

Stein nodded his head slowly playing like he believed the weapon and folded his arms across his chest with a smile claiming his lips, "I know what you were thinking Soul. Did you think I was going to experiment on you? Medusa did enough of that for the both of us wouldn't you agree?"

Soul flinched at his words and soon began boiling over with stress, being around Stein isn't something that relieves anyone unless they are just gone in the head, nothing about him is right; his need to dissect things, mainly the living, and his lack of understanding is almost crippling, how Marie deals with him is something that is beyond Soul's comprehension.

"Now..." Stein spoke again in a softer voice as he shoved his hands into his lab coats pockets, "I need you to undress, you can leave your underwear on, but if your genitals have been mutilated then I will need you to also discard your underwear." He commanded with a slight shrug. "I have to examine you because of the scars on your arms and neck, those things are worrying the others, so I need to see if there is anymore damage."

_Check me?_ Soul shrunk away from the world, he went into the corner and brought his knees up to his chest to create his own barrier.

"Those scars are from myself," he didn't know where he was going with what he had just said, all he knew is that he had to stop Stein from examining him, he doesn't want anyone to see how hideous he is.

Stein sighed at the uncooperative male with a roll of his eyes and pulled something with a small antenna out of his pocket that looked like some sort of radio device, he pushed a small button on the side and spoke into it calmly, "Patient is refusing examinations, mark that down as another strike."

_Another strike? Since when have people been keeping tabs against me?_ Soul didn't like that one bit, people have been marking things down against him that could end up getting him some sort of punishment. He pulled his knees closer to his chest and could care less about those strikes since he's already going to be punished for the murders of so many people.

Stein saw in those red eyes of Souls that he wasn't going to get up and strip down, he dropped the radio away from his mouth and sighed, "Soul all you have to do is undress, it's as easy as counting. You aren't going to make this difficult when it should not have to be." Stein took a few steps towards his patient with a flicker of remorse passing through his grey eyes that just made Soul hug himself tighter.

Something like this shouldn't be hard to do and yet Soul can't bring himself to do it, he doesn't want prying eyes to see his scars because those scars while unsightly are pieces of his past that will never fade. He can't face them, he doesn't want to see them, and if he can't face them then no person should have to face them either.

"If those scars did come from you then I guess it is good you are in holding, I'll make sure to tell them to put you in a strait jacket and padded room so you don't harm yourself again." Stein took a few more steps towards Soul, unlike the other steps these were long and covered much more distance bringing Stein over to the cowering weapon.

Soul continued to lock down and with Stein hovering over him he couldn't fight back the shivers.

The man's gloved hand came towards him slowly inching closer and closer, but could never touch him. Soul reacted fast and grabbed onto Stein's hand, he dulled out with his only focus to stop this examination and bent three of Stein's fingers back until he heard the distinct sound of his bones breaking. With those bones broke Soul quickly moved towards the edge of the bed and used all of his weight to push Stein to the ground.

When what Soul had done dawned upon him he shook violently with his eyes glued to the man who was staring at his now broken fingers with no pain evident in his expression. He didn't mean to do that, he just wanted to push him away, he just didn't want to be seen, and by that he made himself look more unstable. He felt cornered though, he was cornered, he thought he didn't have any other way out of it!

It wasn't even an action out of self defense, it's not like Stein intended to cause Soul any harm, the violence was out of fear, Soul just couldn't deal with what things would come after his body is seen.

Stein let out a heavy breath and forced himself off of the ground, he dusted off his coat, and walked over to the door with steady eyes on Soul causing the white haired young adult to pale. Stein twisted that little screw in his head, the clicking sounds of the gears resting in place driving Soul insane while it calmed Stein down.

Stein brought the radio back up to his face and began speaking into it.

He must have spoken in a whisper because Soul could not hear a word that he said he could only see his mouth move. _What did he say?_ Soul stared hard at his mouth trying to read his lips but failed miserably because by the time he tried to read his lips Stein stopped talking.

_Did- did I get another strike?_ Soul trembled, he doesn't want another one, he doesn't like that idea of punishment anymore including after the thing he just did to Stein's fingers.

He wanted to ask Stein what he said but obviously the man walked away so he couldn't be heard so that question just died in his throat.

The two resorted to staring at each other the tension building up leaving Soul with that need to vault out of the window.

Suddenly the door burst open and in came three men, all of them equal height and build with their faces masked. Some how not knowing their identity made this moment scary, hell they are intimidating as they are there is no point to the masks.

Stein shut the door behind them swiftly and gestured towards Soul with a nod of his head, the three masked men turned to each other and with some unspoken communication they agreed to begin walking towards Soul slowly.

Soul had no idea who these people are and he doesn't want to, he nearly shut down when he saw them but knew that he shouldn't. His eyes danced from one to another rapidly as he jumped off of his bed and approached the window, all three wore the same black mask with a straight white line painted across the place that their mouths would probably be. Their eyes are hidden, their faces something Soul would probably never get to see.

He turned his back to them with his need to escape rising higher than his heart rate. He pulled at the bottom of the window and soon it creaked open, he heard their footsteps slap against the ground near him and began clambering out of his prison ready to face his fate below.

He had one of his knees pressed against the bottom of the window with his back scraping against the window that he pulled up. He lifted his other leg up to bring it onto the edge but never made it.

A big hand wrapped around his leg squeezing it so tightly it felt as if his bone would split. He narrowed his eyes and tried to push himself forward with his balance completely gone. He let out a shaky breath when the grip literally pushed his muscles down against his bones building up this pressure and lack of blood flow that sent that leg into slumber. He edged towards his goal holding his breath with the realization that there was only one way out of this.

He turned onto his side feeling this new uncontrollable ache exceed the numbness with that lack of blood flow creating this heavier pressure that was almost like a hex. He was hanging almost halfway out of the window with the rays of the sun bitterly stinging his face. The window seal dug into his ribs adding onto the discomfort that is already present. Soul took a huge gulp and squeezed his eyes shut, _just a little more,_ he thought to himself as he made a quick turn onto his back. His bone was now at an awkward angle with that mans heavy grip nearly splitting through Soul's limb, Soul couldn't let the pain register, he had to be quick. He turned again and this time he was on his other side, his bone snapped by the time he was on his back with that guys grip assisting in the break. His bone arced up and protruded through his flesh until it passed through, the white black blood stained bone creeped out with the man's large thumb pressing down against it as if he were trying to push it back into Souls leg.

A scream tore free from Soul's lungs, the pain is gnawing at him, he tried to hold to the fact that he's been through worse, but that didn't stop his cries. The man's grip loosened when the bone continued to jab his thumb with Soul's thick blood covering the hand that held him in place. When Soul felt some of that pressure fade he began pushing himself out of the window.

_I'm about to drop over eight hundred feet..._

He didn't drop, they gave him the chance, but he just wasn't quick enough. Another one of the masked men darted forward and grabbed onto his broken leg halting all of his movements and setting his nerves into overdrive. He opened his mouth to scream but was yanked back so fast that he couldn't, instead of screaming he ended up biting his own tongue inviting the thick hot coppery blood to fill his mouth as he was thrown onto the bed like some rag doll.

"Patient tried to escape..." Stein's voice was loud as he talked, "Broke his own leg when one of the three grabbed him."

_No...No...! NO! I was supposed to fall!_

Soul tried to sit up but was forced down into the bed by one of the guys. One held onto both of his feet keeping his twisted up leg in its broken position restricting the black blood from pulling his muscles back together and another sat above him on the bed pulling his hands over his head, the only thing he could move was his head.

_The pain..._ It's coursing rapidly through each of his limbs mainly dominant in the one that he broke for a goal that he couldn't even accomplish. Everything started to blur and darken before him with his broken limb twitching involuntarily which only made the man's grip tighten even more. Souls chest restricted around itself, he began breathing in and out heavily turning his head to all of the people in the room with big tear filled red orbs looking for some sort of empathy that no one in here seemed capable of giving.

Stein, the only one not holding him down, loomed over him and grabbed onto the hem of his blood stained dark grey shirt with his good hand.

Soul swallowed the rotten blood of his down and screamed at the top of his lungs for everyone to stop with blood immediately filling his mouth again. He kept swallowing back the constant thick bile and screaming at the people to stop and leave him alone but his cries only reached the ears of those causing him this pain.

Soon Stein had Soul's shirt lifted above his head and the one who held onto his arms quickly reached down and pulled that fabric off discarding the shirt onto the ground earning more ripe cries from the now exposed weapon.

The three men did not react to what was etched into the chest of the young weapon, they were like mindless zombies that only followed one purpose - to follow orders. If these things here are people they would flinch at his cries, they would be hesitant, but no, these masked men ignored those cries and just held him down with even more force.

He would have been undressed even further if Stein didn't tell one of the giants to stop. So the only piece of clothing he is missing that kept the worst hidden is gone, leaving him barren and vulnerable.

_No..._

Soul felt those cool grey eyes dig into his chest, studying each crater of flesh.

_No! Please don't look at me!_

Soul began writhing in their grasps feeling his lungs tighten and burn when he couldn't get the air he so desperately needed.

"What the hell...?" Stein's interest was now piqued, the raise of his eyebrows and the slight surprise was proof of how intrigued he had become. He reached down and pressed his palm against the markings that were burned into Soul's chest.

"You caused all of that pain because you didn't want me to see this? Stupid." Stein muttered as he carefully traced the scars that were as black as Soul's blood.

Soul stopped fighting now, he just laid there limply with his cool tears rolling over his cheeks.

"To stop any more pain Soul you have to tell me if you have any more scars or wounds on you..." Stein's voice was gentle now, so soothing that Soul could almost let the numbness take him.

Soul turned his head slightly up at the man, for a moment he was to choked up on his blood and tears to talk but when he swallowed hard and blinked away a few tears he croaked, "I have more scars, some on my legs with most being on my back and chest." The ache from his broken limb pulsed through him and cut him off from speaking, he dug his nails into his palms in an attempt to distract himself with another pain and continued, "Most are from her, but the ones on my back are mainly from the blades that tear out of me."

Stein gave a slight nod of his head giving Soul some sort of relief. "Get off of him," Stein commanded in a stern voice. "Thanks for the assistance, you all may leave." The grip that they had on him vanished and soon they were gone with their job accomplished.

Stein settled down on the bed next to Soul who had his back turned to him, Stein couldn't help but to feel bad as Soul hugged his sides with those scars on his back glaring up at the patchwork man.

Stein laid his undamaged hand against the younger male's shoulder lightly immediately feeling his muscles tense, it was obvious Soul didn't like the touch.

"Who is this her? Tell me about her... If you just talk to me a bit then you'll feel better and things will get done much faster." Stein used a calm tone and gave his shoulder a small squeeze making some of the pain vanish but opening new wounds that held all of Soul's emptiness within it. "I'm not going to hurt you Soul and no one will ever let her hurt you again. Who is she? She will be hunted down... Don't let something so easy be so hard again."

Everything is difficult, everything is complex, nothing easy is ever really easy, and yet people around him just can't seem to understand that. And here Soul is known as the Eater with all of these people including Stein within these last couple of days telling him to cooperate, that he will never have to go through what he did before even though they have no idea what he actually went through... They have no idea how much danger they are putting their own lives in by holding him here, by protecting him, a monster.

"H..." Soul shuddered when he felt his muscles in his leg shift as they began pulling themselves together, it just will never feel right every time something regenerates. Everytime he undergoes a quick regeneration it feels off, and it always will. "Her name is-" he choked up on the memories the past flashing past his eyes in seconds.

Stein gave Soul a small smile that he couldn't see and gave his shoulder another squeeze trying not to rush him just trying to let him know that he has someone here for him.

Soul pushed down his fears, he would never be able to forget them all so all he can do is climb to the top of all the rubbish that holds him down.

"Her name is _Verra..._"

Saying her name didn't bring him any sort of comfort it just felt like he said the name of the Devil.

Stein nodded his head repeating the woman's name in his head over and over again trying to figure out if he knew her even though her name didn't ring any bells.

Soul continued, all of his trembles vanishing under the rise of his pounding heart and swelling pain that was different than anything he has ever felt before, "She kept me away from the world! She betrayed my trust!" Soul was yelling now, his voice as loud as it could go with his agony wavering in the sound wavelengths. "I hate her! She did this to me!" He pressed his hand against his chest and the trembles returned. "She made me into a monster! She did this to me! She made me eat people! She made me devour their souls! I-I can't take it! I-" His voice quieted down and he found himself grasping onto those last few words repeating them in his mind as he sobbed softly.

Stein never thought he would see Soul so broken...

Stein stood up but before he did he gave Soul a slight pat on the back and walked towards one of the shelves and grabbed some things out of them.

"Hey..." Stein called out to the male as he threw a pillow over Soul's face. "How would you like to stay in here?" He asked as he held a perfectly folded up blanket underneath his arm. "I won't be here for the rest of the day but I'll make sure to tell them to let you stay in here and bring you meals."

This sounded better than the dungeon, he nodded his head and muttered a small yes.

Stein placed the blanket down near Soul's feet, he would have put it over him but that would cause pain to his broken fingers. Stein turned away from Soul and began heading out of the room.

"Soul... Why didn't you attack them or me with your blades? We know you have 'em. You could have escaped that way a lot easier."

"Because I'm _not_ a killer."

* * *

_"Verra?"_ Toma repeated the name drawing nothing but blanks. "Are you sure? I don't think I've ever heard of that witch before..." He rubbed the stubble on his chin while he traced through the records in his head trying to find where Verra fits in.

Stein gave a slight shrug of his shoulder and leaned back in the chair. "That's her name, have that little rat of yours run through some back ground checks on that name, he seems capable enough." Stein smirked slightly and Toma gave a big smile with all of his heart put into.

"Well..." Stein clapped his hands down onto the arms of his seat, his damaged hand healed thanks to Kim. "I think we should release Soul, let him go home. It's an environment that suits him best since he would probably be more comfortable within it. He will relax there and open up more to his Meister because of their relationship, all we've been doing is pushing him which really hasn't proven efficient."

Toma rolled his eyes but then said something that didn't match that action, "Yeah! We will release the Eater tomorrow! He's killed six hundred people and hurt his Meister but it's obvious he's atoned for his sins in a week! I'll allow it, I want it, and he isn't really on the prowl for blood right now..." Toma trailed off with his sarcasm dying off but soon was speaking again, " I didn't imagine you would act with so much compassion to this kid I honestly thought you wanted to dissect him, guess I was wrong." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Stein snorted earning another smile from Toma who expected that much from him.

"I don't want to dissect Soul, I want to dissect Verra. And to be honest I feel bad for Soul, he's been through so much and she did it all to him. I have a heart you know, not as empty and as cold as it used to be sadly. Seeing him like that is disgusting and pathetic. It's like he's just lost all of his strength, not the Soul I knew." Stein said with a deep sigh.

* * *

On the news early in the morning Souls name was dropped on multiple occasions and then in the afternoon he was the only thing anyone could talk about. Information that he was found was leaked to the media and that was it, they left it at Soul was found, and left the rest up to the interviewers to act on getting information from him.

He was released...

Given freedom...

And the Eater is still being held according to the DWMA.

* * *

At first there was a knock on her door that was so loud and heavy that it caused her door to splinter, when she opened the door she was met by small red eyes void of any life.

When Soul saw her warm brilliant eyes that life seemed to rush into his ruby hues. His eyes shimmered with the sun hitting his face giving him the illusion of having some color to his skin.

The last time they stood before each other things were a mess, one person couldn't remember the other...

Their eyes locked just as before on that dreary night except for this time they both have their memories held tight to their souls.

For Soul this moment couldn't be more painful, he is standing here in front of his Meister whom he bit and her scar is so thick on her neck mocking him for what he has become. But when he looks into her jade eyes he doesn't see any trace of anger, hate, or fear, all he sees is a mixture of sadness and happiness exuding from her.

_She isn't mad at me... But I-I did all_ _of those..._

"Soul..." She murmured as she stepped towards him and flung her arms around his neck catching him off guard sending him staggering back until he bumped into one of the masked men that brought him here.

He kept his arms by his sides unable to let himself willingly touch her when he's hurt her. Her warmth is so nice even from the distance that they are at, he hated that he enjoyed it so much, and the thing that he really couldn't take from being greeted by her like this is her scar...

It's not that he finds it repulsive or anything, he finds himself repulsive for causing it, and his face is basically buried in it. His chin and cheek are pressed into the scar, he can feel the rigid tight bunched of flesh that is so uneven.

_I-I did this... _He began trembling, he wanted to push her away, but he couldn't find the strength in himself to do so including when he can feel her tears against his neck.

He swallowed hard and couldn't take it any more, he wrapped his arms around her thin waist and pulled her against his body burying his head deep into the crook of her neck where her scar rested accepting what he had done to her.

He never thought he would get to feel this again, he never imagined he would be able to hold her like this. He was gone so long always wishing for her to be by his side while things darkened around him, and now he finally has his light with him again.

"I'm..." Soul's lips trembled, he knew what he wanted to say but it was just so hard for him to say them. She pulled him closer her fingers digging into his back as she sobbed quietly encouraging him to speak telling him that things are okay.

That's when he broke, and he didn't care if he cried in front of her. His tears rolled down his cheeks and quickly found themselves onto her flesh pink scar.

"I'm sorry! I never meant to hurt you..." He cried with the tears he cried already exhausting him, "I'm sorry for everything I've done! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm a monster." He dug his nails into her hips so harshly that there would definitely be bruising, he attempted to pull her even closer to cherish this moment forever.

Their bodies melted together, and their hearts thumped against the others unevenly as crystal clear tears fell from their eyes.

She balled her hands up into his shirt then hit him on the back lightly. "Don't call yourself that! You are not a monster! Please don't... You didn't..." She was so quiet with her voice so low that he could barely hear a word she spoke.

She pressed her palms into the small of his back and nestled her head underneath his chin, "I'm not going to let the darkness take you away from me, I'm going to keep you safe, I swear..."

* * *

The days are always long, the nights are always short, and tonight for some reason this stretch of dark sky seems like it would last forever. The stars are dotted through the darkness almost strategically placed around the onyx moon that tonight has a slight glow to it that sheds down against Death City.

Up upon an old church built from stones that are now covered in moss and ropes of ivy stands a woman on the stone plated roofing. Her red eyes study the streets below her and then lift towards the sky where the black moon rests.

A small smile played against her lips at the thoughts running through her tainted mind that would frighten little children to the core if they could hear them.

A small gentle breeze rolled past her picking up her short pale blue hair, she didn't even tremble against the push of the bitter cold wind because she couldn't feel it. She has on her soul protect and a spell casted upon her that gives her body the glow of a softly lit candle that keeps her warm even with her lack of preparation for this weather.

_He's obstructing our work again…_

The woman sighed when she heard the voice, she's used to its rambles that occasionally sound through her head. While she didn't want to hear it talk she knew it spoke of the truth, he is obstructing their plans.

"He was never supposed to remember any of those things…" She muttered as she kicked at one of the loose bricks knocking it from the place it was wedged inbetween.

_ We have to get him back you know… He is what we need!_

True words yet again, except this time when she heard the voice she smiled, she couldn't help but smile when she heard its eagerness. But it wasn't thinking rationally, wasn't taking the world into consideration. The media, investigators, police, and the DWMA all has this tight leash and watch on their pride and joy that makes him impossible to get.

It's like back in the day when they didn't have him and all they could do was watch from afar, except now that they have had a taste of him they have this stronger yearning for him that keeps them interested. For such a long time they waited for an opening to snatch him, such a long excruciating time that was like _torture, _and now they have to wait again because of the memories he regained.

She won't let him remember long. "I'll create a gap somewhere and he'll be ours again… And of course this can all play into our benefit because this is his home-plate…" She hummed in a soft voice as she kicked another stone that was lodged so tightly inbetween others that it seemed like it wouldn't bust. "He has so many things to lose here other than himself."

With those words said she let out a low giggle.

She perched herself up at the edge of the roof she was on and without looking down she jumped off with her skirt fluttering up and her skin glistening in the gentle glow of lights that surrounded her. Before she could become paste on the ground she moved her hand through the air and flexed her fingers outwards pointing them towards the cobblestone road, a bubble of wind exploded outwards and encased her legs bringing her to a slow and gentle stop, her feet were now on the ground and the wind that had carried her vanished.

She looked straight forward through the streets, in the distance she could see the steps of the DWMA with their shadows casted short in the night. Her red eyes gleamed as she took a hesitant step forward with a smile melting against her lips that was slightly crooked. "You want to fight back do you?" Her smile turned into an open mouthed grin, "you know what happens when you resist don't you, my little beast…"

* * *

**To reviews I can't reply to or haven't yet:**

_***Note – I will take this down when the next **_**_update comes out._**

Guest – _Hey please at least leave Soul and Maka. This is a romance after all right?_

I usually don't try to kill off the major characters and if I ever do decide to do that in the future it will be something difficult to execute. It is a romance but there is a blend of tragedy, angst, ect…

Let's just see :)

Guest – _Why couldn't this have existed earlier?! You need more recognition!_

Thank you :3 Recognition is amazing but I'll still just be happy writing whether it's for a small or large audience!

Weeeird – _I was hoping they would kiss! Damn it…_

_If they did kiss it would seem really cheesy though so it still kind of worked out._

_Please don't kill Soul… Or Maka…_

_They just reunited!_

Pfft kiss? Come on that would have ruined it for a lot of readers, it just felt like such a cliché thing to do! Ah! A kiss brings back all of his memories, it just would've ruined it.

We will see what happens later :3

**Thanks to all of you who read and to those of you who also leave a review! Have a great day or night, hopefully you'll stay with me for the next update.**


	5. Chapter 4 - News

_**AU: Hey all! Finally an update to this after such a long time! I was going through a lot so I wasn't really willing to write anything or do much at all. I won't go into detail because you probably just want to read the story.**_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

It's the humming that wakes him up, it's soft yet menacing sound echoes in his ears, causing his head to ache.

He knows what that means and he doesn't want to face another day like the last again. His insides were prodded so much, he almost lost himself in the worst way possible, he wasn't even really himself... He didn't understand how it was possible, how his mind began this fading in and out of a different kind of conscience. He doesn't like it, but she does, she is rather pleased with his progress over the time she's had him in her claws.

"Good morning, monster!" She greeted in a light voice that only seemed to bring discomfort that went deeper than his bones.

He looked up at Veera and was immediately repulsed, her red eyes, her blue hair, her red lips, just everything, everything about her drives him to insanity. All he wants to do is wring her neck, but he never has the chance.

"I hate you..." He growled, wiggling in his restraints, knowing he can't move, but hoping to intimidate her.

She laughed, right in his face. "You look like a worm when you squirm like that, Eater! Oh joy! I love it when you have this fighting spirit, that means I have more to crush." She balled up her fist, and he could basically see his entire world crushed right beneath her fingertips.

With her intimidating just starting she reached down for the restraints at his feet and waved her hand over them, the restraints released and he could move his legs freely, right into her little face if he wanted.

"Now, Soul..." Veera said with pouty lips and big eyes as she waltzed up to him where his restraints held his arms high over his head. "I want to try something, I can't tell you what it is though, because that would just ruin all my fun."

Someone is in a very happy mood today.

He just laid there in wait, his body itching to move, his fingers tingling with desire to pry her heart right out of her chest.

Just the thought of ripping into her insides made his stomach growl, she would be the meal he would enjoy devouring.

As soon as he's released he's going after her, he'll take the chance, and even if it goes sour at least he tried to fight back. He nodded to himself, knowing exactly what his plan was.

And she waved her hand over his wrists and the metal restraints clicked and fell away from another. He could feel the relief in his tired wrists from the release, now he can finally move them without the metal digging underneath his skin.

"Now..." Veera turned her back to him and began taking slow steps away from him. "I want to take you somewhere, somewhere special. But I have to wipe some things out of-"

He didn't want to hear what she had to say, he didn't want to hear her plan to make him less of the person that he is now. He lunged at her and knocked her to the ground, her face slamming into the wooden floors. Quickly he made his moves, trying to end her quickly, even though he wanted to torture her like she tortured him. He knew he couldn't get ahead of himself, not if he wanted to win, not when he wants to escape.

She squirmed beneath him trying to wiggle herself free, but he had her planted down with all his weight crushing down upon her body.

"Who is the worm now?" He growled as he pulled his hand back and straightened out his thin fingers, ready to pierce and strike her.

Who is the worm? Indeed, that is the question that Soul should know the answer to.

He should have realized that this was to easy, that things played out to perfectly for him. But he was too caught up in the moment, in vengeance, to realize that he will always be the worm beneath her.

Suddenly, just before he could pierce her heart, his fingers were bent back at a disturbing angle. He wasn't ready to quit yet even though he was in agony in this moment, he didn't want to quit when victory seemed so close.

"I knew you would do that you filthy fucking beast!" She yelled, her tone between hatred and even happiness. "My little monster, trying to kill someone like a mother to him!"

_Like a... Like a mother? _That completely threw Soul off guard. He wasn't expecting the M word to ever be dropped by her, never did it even occur to him that she thought of herself as that to him.

With him off guard it was easy for her to overpower him and slam him into the metal table. She's very powerful, little does her figure suggest that.

She stood over him, her eyes dark with a glint in them that is all too familiar. Fear rose in his chest and his heart roared behind his ribcage.

It was then he realized that she planned for him to attack, that she wanted him to try and hurt her. Now she's going to have a reason to hurt him, beat him until he is just a bloody pulp, then make him eat.

He cowered in fear against the metal table wishing that he could sink into the material. She loomed down closer to him and wrapped her hands around his throat.

The look in her eyes were now crazed and that only made the fear in him spike.

"Please..." He whispered, his voice weak and his eyes full of tears. "Please don't." He can't take anymore, he doesn't want this, he would rather be dead.

But she has plans for him...

"Shut the fuck up." She hissed as she tightened her grip around his throat, pressing down against his windpipe. He wanted to struggle, to try and tear her hands away, but she paralyzed him with a spell, rendering him motionless.

"You really think you can kill me, Soul? Don't you have any fucking clue how hopeless you are, you piece of shit. I expect so many things from you, so many good things, and you want to try to kill me!" She slammed his head against the metal table making him go into a daze.

"I'm here to make you something marvelous, to do what the others could never do too well. To make a weapon that kills to consume. Yeah, sure, one witch did it, but it failed. You aren't going to fail, even when you falter from the mind of a mad man, you will once again rise as the mad man you were designed to be."

Her hands loosened around his throat but she didn't remove them, she just kneeled before him with her eyes boring into his, finding fear in his dull red eyes.

"I have to teach you a lesson for attacking me... You have to learn." She backed away from him and smiled, smiled right at him like things were perfect. They were perfect for her, perhaps.

She lifted her hand into the air and a dark aura began oozing out of her arm. A large blade began materializing out of the dark aura. It was bigger than her, bigger than Soul.

Soul stared at the blade, not in awe, but in fear of what damage it would cause.

"Alright, Soul!" She cheered as she grabbed the handle of the blade and aimed the blunt edge of the sword towards his face. "It's time to repent!"

_Please, no..._

He stared at it with wide tear filled eyes, unable to move, he was utterly doomed.

_Please don't do this to me..._

She lifted the blade in the air and began swinging down.

Before the blade could hit Soul jerked awake letting loose a cry, a plea to stop. When he realized it was all a nightmare he hid his face in his hands and began trembling nonstop.

His body was covered in sweat, and he ached as if he had really been thrashed around. He let out a few very shaky breaths and just squeezed his eyes shut trying to forget the horrible dream that plagued his sleep.

"Please..." He whispered into his hands as he held them against his face. "Please, leave me alone."

He could wish that all he wanted, but that was a wish that would never be granted.

Instead of staying locked up in his room, cowering in the darkness, he stood up and opened up his bedroom door.

Right in front of him stood Maka wearing an oversized t-shirt with her hair loose. She looked worried, and so very tired.

He smiled at her then pushed past her. "It's fine, Maka." He said unconvincingly as he headed down the stairs to thekitchen. "Get some rest."

He should have known that to some sort of degree that Maka was not going to get any sort of rest after she probably heard his little fits and woes.

Soul just needed to relax, to calm down, because right now his stomach feels queasy and his nerves are frayed. No offense to Maka, who is following him into the kitchen, but he can't really rely on her too much. He knows that if he starts to get too comfortable and puts everything on her shoulders that something will end up going out in a very sour note, and he doesn't dare want something like that to happen. In a way he is just scared to get close to her, including since he bit her, since he is a monster…

She said he wasn't a monster though, that he was just circumstanced to the wrong place at the wrong time with someone who would rather see him hurt others. Maka has made it clear within the two days that Soul has been here that everything he has done, all the killing, all the consuming, is not his fault, but the fault of the witch Veera who made him the way that he is. If only that were true to him then he might be able to actually rest in peace.

Soul opened up the fridge door and peered in, the bright light that sat in the fridge burning his eyes slightly since he wasn't adjusted to that amount of light at once quite yet. He peered on through despite the stinging of his eyes and came to the conclusion that there was nothing in here for him to enjoy. He shut the fridge door and turned around to see Maka standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest.

Immediately he thought he did something wrong when she gave him that look, where her eyebrows are raised and her lips are pulled taunt, and he almost wanted to apologize, but he refrained from doing so and instead asked, "What is it?"

Maka inhaled deeply and dropped her arms to her side. "Nothing… nothing." She shook her head heavily and walked into the living room that was adjacent to the kitchen and the dining room.

That was lie one.

He knew that by the look that she was giving him that something was wrong, whether it is him or something else that caused the wrong is a mystery. But something is definitely wrong, it isn't nothing, that's for sure.

So instead of calling her out on her lie he just smiled, a plastic smile, and headed into the living room where she sat. He sat down next to her, still giving her a good amount of space, really giving himself space so he wouldn't be touched much, and sighed.

He was going to figure out what was wrong with her.

"So…" He began and clapped his hands against his lap, "What's on your mind? You okay?"

Maka looked at him for a second then turned away from him sheepishly. He noticed that she turned her legs towards the door and he easily picked up on the fact that she didn't want to be here, probably didn't want to be near him, or having a serious conversation this early in the morning.

He didn't know what to do, how to make her talk. Before he was stolen away from his regular groove he knew how to make her talk, even when she was mad at him, he could make her explain to him why she was so upset. But now, now he can't, or at least he feels like he can't. He doesn't know what to do.

"I'm actually fine, Soul." Maka finally answered, giving him a bit of relief even if it seemed like she was lying. So even though she did answer him, he considered that lie two. No one who is fine would look like they want to bolt out of a room, something is up.

"But what about you…? You said you are fine, but are you really?" Finally, that was what he was waiting for, waiting for her curiosity to get the best of her.

He's fine now, at least a little bit. He's still a little messed up from his dream since everything felt so real, he could feel each hit, smell his own sweat, and taste the rotten residue of someone else's blood in his throat. Just thinking about it again gives him chills. It was more than just a nightmare, it was a memory replayed as a dream, and that was one thing he never wanted to think of again.

He decided that he wouldn't lie to Maka. "I just had a really bad dream that felt real… It was horrible… Everything was…" He stopped himself, refusing to go into any details.

That was all she needed from him, some sort of explanation to ease her mind. She scooted in closer to him and laid her head against his shoulder causing him to tremble. The trembles faded quickly and he just sat there letting her lay her head against him.

"I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it at all? What was the dream about?"

Soul locked up a little bit more and just wanted to push her away from him, he didn't like all the prying that she was trying to do, even though she has barely even pried since he's been here. He didn't want to talk to her about what he dreamed about, it was bad enough to dream about, but to talk about it out loud… That would be too much.

And it's not like she can't figure out what the dream was about, she knows about Veera and that he was tortured. She hasn't seen the scars, and he's not planning for her too. That's all anyone needs to know. That he was held captive, tortured, and made to eat souls, they don't need the gruesome details, and he could live without them.

"I don't want to talk about it, not right now." He wanted to give her some sort of hope, let her think that he'll eventually open up even though he's not really planning on it. "It's still too much for me, I'm pretty sure it will take me a while to deal with things."

Maka nodded her head, taking in his words and then smiled. She's glad that he is at least talking. As long as she hears a few things from him she won't stay on his back too long. Maka is just worried, she can't help but to question him… They have a lot of missed time together, so of course she is going to have more questions that just this.

"Okay, well…" Soul slowly slid away from her and stood up, "I think I'm going to get back to bed!" She probably couldn't understand him that well near the end because he yawned.

Maka stood up and walked past him, "Alright, come to me and wake me up if you have any trouble sleeping." She smiled a bit then headed upstairs to her bedroom.

Soul proceeded to head up to his room and laid down once he had his door shut. He stayed there on his bed motionless with his eyes opened wide, refusing to fall back to sleep knowing that he would only have more nightmares again.

It looks like he isn't going to get any more sleep tonight.

Later in the morning when the sun was still low and the heat hadn't come on quite yet Maka stirred awake and headed downstairs to find Soul glued to the TV. She smiled a small smile, she couldn't help it, because that is what he used to do before, wake up and watch a bit of television.

She walked over to him, walking past his field of vision, blocking the screen for a second, and sat down next to him. She was about to ask about what was on the television but the voice of a news caster stopped her from doing so.

"I'm Liza Wooding, good morning Death City!" The news caster smiled brightly, her teeth perfectly straight, and her skin flawless. "I'm with you this morning to let you know of some of the newest, juiciest stories on the market place. The first being that the Eater has been caught. There are more developmental areas with that story but today we heard that The Eater will be executed after the witch is dealt with. Which brings me to the story of Soul Eater Evans."

Soul tensed when he heard the woman say that, he paled slightly, and the fear was in his eyes. Maka knew why he was afraid, because of what she said – The Eater will be executed after the witch is dealt with. He is probably thinking that he will actually be executed after the witch is caught, that he really isn't safe. She wanted to coax him and let him know that things would never end like that that was just a story that Kid told the news to get them off his back.

"Soul is back home with Maka! Finally! The two are reunited once again! Maybe we will see a blossoming romance, maybe we will have little babies from the two most famous faces in Death City which would be wonderful!"

Maka rolled her eyes, and so did Soul.

"Soul has been home for two full days now, this being the beginning of his third day. He's probably still getting used to the world after being locked away by a witch for such a very long time. It was hell, and we are all glad that you escaped, Soul."

He did go through hell and back pretty much and that is something that he never wants to repeat again, no one wants him to have to deal with that kind of thing ever.

"Since Soul has been welcomed back home there has been quite a few gossipers saying that Soul is actually The Eater. A lot of people online have been connecting the dots that probably aren't meant to be connected and have come to the conclusion that Soul is actually the killer. People have raised the points that Soul and The Eater basically were at the DWMA at the same time, that they both have red eyes, and are known to eat souls. Given that Soul is a weapon it is only normal for him to take part in the consumption of Kishin eggs, it's what he had to devour to become a Death Scythe. And it was just sheer chance that they both have the same color for their eyes. And as for The Eater being caught and Soul returning at similar times… That probably has something to do with the witch Veera who took Soul in."

So it seemed this Liza person was taking charge to defend Soul instead of bash him like others have been in the last few days. It was kind of relieving for both Soul and Maka that she was defending him, it gave them some sort of peace of mind.

"Now Veera, the witch who took Soul in, is to blame for The Eater, and Soul being taken in. She created a monster and defiled our last Death Scythe. How can you all be so heartless that you would accuse Soul of being some kind of beast, you should be ashamed of yourselves for that. He has just came back home and you all sling insults at him, well not all of you, but a good bit. Don't harass someone who has been tortured, he has had enough, don't you think?"

With everything that she said she seemed beyond well informed of the situation, it seemed that she may even know the truth quite possibly. This newscaster could be someone that Toma knows that will leak untrue, but passable for true, words to deceive the public into thinking that Soul isn't the enemy, just the victim.

In a way he is actually both the enemy and the victim. Soul did kill, but he was made to do so. So can he really be to blame? It's all on the person who made him the way that he is, he is mainly the victim of poor circumstances, as said before.

Soul grabbed the controller off of the coffee table and turned the TV off, he was done watching the latest news. He's tired of seeing himself as some glorified headline, he doesn't want any attention, but he does expect it.

Maka looked over her shoulder at him and noticed that he looked tired, like he didn't get any sleep at all last night. When she opened her mouth to breach the subject she was quickly silenced by the sound of pounding on the front door.

She immediately wondered who it could be and walked over to the door to answer it. To her surprise it was Toma and Alex just politely standing in front of the opened door with smiles on their faces.

"Hello Miss Albarn, good morning." Toma greeted with a nod then came into the house, pushing her aside. Toma let his eyes fall on Soul and grinned. "And hello Mr. Eater!" He kept his grin and waved at Soul.

Maka glared at Toma, she didn't want him or anyone to refer to Soul like that. She hurried over to Soul's side and sat down next to him putting up her defenses for herself and him which only seemed to make Toma grin wider. The man seemed to take some sort of sick pleasure in all of this.

"Hi Maka." Alex said happily as he shut the door behind himself, "Hey Soul."

At least someone didn't greet Soul like he was still some monster.

The two guests sat down in the living room on the loveseat and looked at Soul and Maka eagerly, it seemed they had something to say.

"What is it?" Maka asked with her eyes still narrowed in on Toma. She wanted to know why they didn't call earlier to plan this little visit, it was a little annoying that they came unexpected and walked in like they owned the place.

"Well…" Toma leaned back in the loveseat and draped his arm around Alex's neck immediately causing the male to become uncomfortable. "We have come here to discuss Soul, of course!"

Maka swallowed and nodded her head, she knew that this was coming sooner or later, and sooner is always better it seems. It's good that they actually came today then, Soul does need to open up a bit more and talk about his time with Veera, answers are needed.

"Okay…" Maka turned to Soul and studied his expression, it was stone not giving way to the feelings that he was feeling inside at the moment. "Are you okay with that, Soul?" Maka asked in a small voice for only him to hear.

Soul smiled at her for her consideration and laid his hand against hers to let her know that he was fine with what was going on. She felt eased then so she just let things proceed.

Toma leaned forward, letting his arm fall away from his partners neck. "Good, I'm glad that you are alright with talking with us today, that seems to be an improvement." He smiled slightly at Soul and continued. "So I want to know if you have had any urges to sink your teeth into anyone lately, like your meister…?" Toma gestured towards Maka subtly with his eyes.

Soul shook his head heavily and said, "I haven't had any urges to do that…" He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably and waited for Toma to continue.

Toma looked over his shoulder at Alex and gave him a slight nod of his head. Alex smiled slightly and reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a notepad and a pen, and began scribbling things down.

"Alex is just writing what you say back to me, it's procedure. I would write it but my handwriting is complete shit." Toma explained with a halfhearted smile. "Okay I will continue then. Have you been depressed? Have you been harming yourself? Have you had any nightmares lately?"

Maka looked at Soul, her eyes never leaving him, searching for the truth within him. He remained almost unreadable, the only thing that she noticed is that Soul looked uninterested in this and slightly uncomfortable with talking.

"I am depressed, but haven't been hurting myself. And I have been having nightmares." Soul answered with his expression still unreadable for the most part.

"Nightmares about what?" Toma asked, more so hoping for an answer than expecting one.

That's when Maka saw the sadness shimmering in his red hues, when she saw that, her heart ached, because she knew she couldn't do anything to help him right now.

"About her…" Soul knew he wasn't going to tell Maka last night, but these two should probably know what he had dreamed about lately, so he told them."She's torturing me again, making me suffer, and I can't do anything but take it…" His voice broke slightly and it sounded as if he was edging off towards tears, but he didn't cry. "I can't stop dreaming about her whenever I sleep now and I don't like sleeping because of it."

Alex hurriedly wrote everything that he could down, paraphrasing some things just a bit.

"So that probably means you don't get much sleep…" Toma said out loud, more to himself than the others then pressed on. "Do you think you will hurt someone again? Do you feel ready to help us on operations to take Veera down?"

Soul shrunk in on himself, wrapping his arms around his sides. "Yes, but not on purpose… And - and yeah, I think I'm ready to do that."

"Good." Toma smiled a bright smile that seemed to take ten years off of his face. "So what does Veera look like? You didn't tell us this last time and this is kind of crucial information, so please let us know."

Soul described how Veera looked to them, or rather how she last looked when he saw her. After that they discussed Soul's health a bit more and even breached the subject of Soul taking medications to ease his depression down and stop him from causing any harm to himself later.

With that done it was almost time for Toma and Alex to take their leave for the day.

But Toma wasn't quite done yet.

"Sooo, Soul and Maka how do you two feel about a celebration in the honor of Soul's return. The public have been demanding something to commemorate Soul and Kid thinks a big celebration at the DWMA is due. Of course we know who you really are, but the public doesn't, and they all seem to love you so much. So what do ya say?"

Maka glanced at Soul and knew that he didn't want to do that, but she kind of did. She wanted Soul to get back out there in public, even if he is really uncomfortable with it. "Yeah, I'm okay with it." Maka told Toma with a smile.

Soul stared at Maka for a second then shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I guess."

"Grand!" Toma exclaimed with a bright smile. "It was going to happen anyways! The gathering at the DWMA will be in four days, so be prepared. Wear something nice the both of you, and Soul maybe you can play something for your fans."

Soul forced a smile onto his face and gave a slow nod of his head.

"Now…" Toma calmed down and became serious once more. "Because we are a little worried about the two of you being alone, not because we think you two will have sex, that's fine, but because Soul… He is still a danger to you, Maka. So we arranged for BlackStar and Tsubaki to come and live with you guys until clearance is given. They think that they are just here for Soul, but really they are here to make sure nothing bad happens to you Maka. There is safety in numbers. No offence to you Soul, but I'm sure you know this is a smart move. We don't want you knocking her head off or something. And no worries they don't know the truth about you, just that you were held captive and used. Okay, now that that is settled we will leave."

Toma stood up and headed towards the door followed by Alex who was shoving the pad and pen in the pocket of his coat. "Now…" Toma said from the front door with a sly grin crossing his face. "Behave while we are gone." And with that they left out of the house leaving Soul and Maka alone.

The two just sat together like that for a little while, neither of them knowing what to say.

"BlackStar is going to be a pain in my ass…." Soul groaned and fell back into the couch.

Maka grinned slightly. "But isn't he your best friend?"

"Even I know that my best friend is annoying!" Soul folded his arms across his chest and just stayed like that on the sofa. "So, Maka, what are you making for dinner tonight?"

Maka actually didn't know, she didn't make any plans. She felt kind of stupid for not figuring something out earlier, but oh well. "What do you want to eat tonight?"

"I'll make it easy on you tonight. Let's just have take-out at that chinese place down the road."

That actually didn't sound too bad.

With dinner out of the way Maka could now focus on what she wanted to do for the rest of the day, be around her weapon. She just missed him so much and now she has him again in her reach, in her grasp. He isn't just some fond memory, he is a solid person in front of her. Having him back home just makes her so happy and even stressed all at once.

She's so stressed out because she doesn't know what happened to him really. Yeah, she knows he was tortured, but how did every event transpire… Would it be rude for her to ask him now, she decided that it would be, at least it would be right now. When the two of them get used to each other again and the awkwardness fades out then maybe she can ask him things about those times, but she needs to gain his full trust again, because right now she feels like she doesn't have all of it.

"Hey, Soul...:" Maka didn't look at him, she just twiddled her thumbs.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about BlackStar and Tsubaki coming to live with us?"

Soul smiled, glad that she asked for his opinion. "It will probably be a good thing… I am still dangerous, so if I ever attack you one day it would be good to have them pry me off."

He really doesn't trust himself at all around her, including after what he did to her.

She placed her hand against her neck where the scar rested, underneath her fingers she could feel the rough texture. It's an unpleasant memory, a dark reminder, that Soul is dangerous.

So perhaps Tsubaki and BlackStar coming to live with them is the best thing. Safety in numbers as Toma said.

**_Yeah, I know it ended kind of abruptly... I have bigger plans for the chapters upcoming._**

**_Any thoughts, questions, concerns? _**

**_Let me know how I'm doing so far, I always doubt myself, so seeing what you all think could encourage me._**

**_I hope you enjoyed, the next chapters to come will be interesting and fun to work on. _**


	6. Chapter 5 - Friends

_**AN: I enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you all enjoy it. I have a lot of stuff up coming, such as school, so updates will probably be biweekly. I don't know yet... Biweekly seems achievable... I'll try my best to keep with the updates.**_

_**Edit: Fixed a few errors. **_

_**I'm looking for a beta reader (maybe a few), I want someone who can give me their opinions on how the story is progressing and stuff not to do. I just think it would be good for me to have someone that can help me with mistakes and even give me a few writing ideas so that the story will be better. I know that probably no one will be interested, or even reads these things, but I'm still curious. If anyone is interested just pm me.**_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Toma was true to his word.

BlackStar and Tsubaki did come to stay the next day bringing a new depth to things at home.

BlackStar clapped Soul on the back early in the morning almost making Soul face-plant his bowl of cereal. Soul quietly grumbled to himself, throwing nasty slurs at BlackStar which BlackStar couldn't hear, but everyone else could.

Maka uncomfortably laughed then turned her attention to Tsubaki who just sat quietly at the table fondly looking over her meister giving him the same look that she always gives him.

"So…" Maka decided that she should try to strike up a conversation. "Soul and I are glad that you two are here!"

Soul immediately looked up at Maka after shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth and sent her a dirty look. He swallowed the spoonful and turned his eyes to BlackStar who seemed to smile just to get on Soul's nerves. "Speak for yourself, Maka." He spat with an eye roll then dismissed himself from the table so he could clean his bowl out.

BlackStar laughed after Soul said that, leaving Maka no time to respond to Soul's outright rudeness. "Awww! You know you missed me! Who wouldn't?"

Soul's eye twitched and he suddenly realized how easily BlackStar gets on people's nerves. He used to always get on Maka's nerves and now it's Soul's turn. He doesn't like BlackStar like he used to, he kind of grew out of him. And it would only make sense that he would after a year of not being with him. People like Soul and BlackStar aren't too good off once they aren't around each other for a while, it just doesn't work like that, the relationship weakens.

Soul was beginning to doubt that BlackStar being here was a good idea.

BlackStar turned to Maka when he realized that Soul wasn't going to respond and smiled at her. Maka smiled back but didn't know why they were smiling at each other in the first place.

"Soul, we are really glad that you are okay, alive. For a while we thought that you were actually dead… It was hard then because we really thought we lost you." Tsubaki said that and seemed to chip away at the barrier that held an unsettling awkwardness.

Soul actually smiled, a small sad smile in response to hearing those kind words from Tsubaki. "Well, anyone would have assumed I was dead." Soul turned to all the people who have affected him somehow in life and was almost brought to tears. All of their friendly faces, kind eyes, gentle smiles, are comforts and luxuries that he shouldn't be given. "I mean I was gone for a long time." He looked down at the floor trying to fight back a few rotten memories and said in a softly spoken voice, "I don't blame you." Then he looked back up at them and could feel his heart sink. They all looked so sad like they themselves could be brought to tears.

It brought an ache to his heart that he couldn't ignore, it hurt so deeply…

BlackStar was the first to wipe away the somber look from his face and replaced it with a big uneasy smile. "We're glad you're back!"

"Yeah." Tsubaki agreed with a nod of her head.

Maka was glad that they missed Soul, they probably missed him as much as she did. They are his friends, how couldn't they miss him. He is a big part of everyone's world. Including hers.

Maka was probably the only person that kept hope that tended to the flame so that it wouldn't give out. Almost everyone gave up… Including investigators, and when the news of a mysterious eater emerged Soul's case was almost dropped completely.

Gone for so long, shoved away, and even forgotten among some.

Soul knew that his friends missed him a lot, and couldn't blame them for thinking that he was dead. Hell, he wanted to be dead. He didn't want to suffer, to see her face again, to wake up and be someone's carving post, he wanted none of that.

"It was really hard…" Soul sucked in a deep breath and leaned against the kitchen counters. "And it's over. So we don't have to talk about it." He didn't want to talk about that with them and he had to get that across to them. That part of his life he wants to push away, not forget, but just not live in every day. "I'm back home, that should be enough."

"Alright, man." BlackStar crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat. "But don't forget that if you are having a problem or some other shit that you can come to us. We are your friends and right now we are trying our best to look out for you."

Soul looked at BlackStar and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Soul nodded his head, glad that he does actually have a friend like BlackStar in his life.

With that said everyone just relaxed a little, things were beginning to normalize. It was a slow paced thing, but it was happening.

"Hey, BlackStar." Tsubaki said softly as she laid a light hand on his shoulder, nearly causing him to tip back in his seat. "Maybe you and Soul can do some shopping. He probably needs some new clothes and stuff and who better to take him that you."

That last part admittedly stroked BlackStars ego, because who else was better than BlackStar, that's right, no one.

BlackStar didn't even have to give that any thought, he was sold.

"Yeah, we can go out and buy some stuff. How's that sound, Soul?"

Soul immediately shook his head, his skin already crawling at the thought of people in public. "I-I can't do that."

BlackStar snorted, "Well, I'm not going by myself!"

Soul was aware of that. "Then don't go then."

"Nope, you are coming with me, even if that means that I have to drag you out of the house myself. You need to get out of this shell you've built for yourself! It's not like you to be a wimp."

That made Soul's blood boil. He could feel the anger rising within himself and he didn't want to contain it. He had to let it out, he's not able to do this much so he might as well do it now.

"Well, I'm sorry that I changed. That's kinda what happens when you are gone for more than a year and are tortured every day! So I'm sorry I'm not the same, it would be hard for me to even begin to act the way that I did before!" He was yelling his voice powerful as it roared through the kitchen. "I've done things! I've seen things! That I can't ever forget!" He threw his arm out before himself and glared at BlackStar who was just giving him a slack jawed expression.

Soul was just so mad, he can't believe BlackStar said something like that to him. He knows that he can be insensitive but now is not the time, not today. Soul is just too close to breaking and losing his head.

"Why are you so upset?!" BlackStar asked incredulously as he stood up from his seat to make Soul stand down.

Soul jammed his finger into BlackStar's chest and shoved him back slightly. "Because you expect me to be the same after all of that suffering I endured!"

"Soul! You are being a wimp! I mean come on! You won't even go outside? Why the hell not? Scared someone will judge you? What bad things would they think about a man who was tortured, nothing!" BlackStar yelled, taking Soul by the collar of his shirt. "Or maybe you are scared that Veera will find you? That she is out there, waiting for you."

"BlackStar!" Maka warned as she shot up from her seat ready to break the two of them up.

BlackStar will never understand everything completely. He won't understand that Soul sees himself as a monster. BlackStar is a misinformed individual who doesn't know the whole story behind Soul. And Soul doesn't care if he won't understand his problems, he could care less.

"You know what…" Soul pushed BlackStar away slightly and balled up his fist. "Fuck you!" He yanked his fist back and threw it at BlackStar full force.

BlackStar was always fluid with his movements and ducked as soon as the fist came close to his face.

It missed BlackStar but it struck the person behind him who was trying to break the fight up before it happened.

Soul punched Maka instead of BlackStar, struck her right on the cheek causing her to collapse to the floor.

Soul immediately realized what he did and dropped his arm to his side.

No...

"Maka!" Tsubaki was the first by her side and then BlackStar.

"Man...I'm sorry I ducked, I didn't realize you were behind me." BlackStar said as he examined her swollen cheek.

Soul stared down at her in disbelief. Once again he has hurt her, and he can't forgive himself at all for a second assault.

"I'm- I'm so sorry." He said quietly, barely loud enough for them to hear. He looked around and noticed that Maka was looking at him with worried eyes, barely even concerned about herself.

"I have to go." He quickly rushed out of the kitchen and through the living room. He opened up the front door with his mind racing and slammed it shut behind himself. Once he was on the streets he felt relaxed and cornered all at once. He just needs a break, he just needs to get away.

"BlackStar go check on him, I have Maka." Tsubaki urged with a slight frown, mad at him for riling Soul up.

"Yeah…" BlackStar stood up and hurried out the door, trailing after Soul.

xxx

Maka laid on the couch with an icepack on her cheek. Her face ached and she couldn't even talk without a numbing pain coming up to bite her. It just really hurt and it was definitely a bright shiner. The bruise was dark purple and brown and if you looked hard enough you could fool yourself into thinking that you can see a tint of blue blended in.

Tsubaki was seated at the end of the couch letting Maka rest her legs over her lap. She kept her eyes on the TV but every now and again Maka could see her eyes quickly glance over her to check on her. Tsubaki is really a great person, a great friend, who really does show compassion.

"I hope they come home soon…" Tsubaki said in her soft voice as she watched the weather man talk about the upcoming thunderstorm headed to Death City.

"I hope so too… But I doubt it. Soul probably feels like complete shit."

Tsubaki nodded. "He hit you. On accident, of course, but he still struck you…" She paused for a brief moment and looked over at Maka, "He really seems broken, and he won't ever be the same again. There is something in his eyes that just looks so dead, like he has lost all hope. We have to be careful of that, because a person without any hope could be quick on ending their life. Someone like Soul takes a while to find a silver lining, you have to help him find it, Maka." She rested her hand on Maka's leg and gave a kind hearted smile. "Give him hope."

Give him hope...It sounds so easy but is it really?

"I will."

xxx

Outside rain just began to fall. Each little droplet propelled down from the clouds and crashed against the concrete streets. The rain smelled fresh and fell with a pleasant noise that could calm any rampant heart.

Soul rushed through the streets, each step that he took swifter than the last so he could escape his quick pursuer. He could go on like this forever without breaking a sweat and if he has to he will, he has to escape. He needs to get away. The walls that surround him are starting to crash down and if he doesn't move he's going to be crushed.

He took a sharp turn that led directly to an alley and could feel the cool rain crash against his face. He looked up for a second and cherished the cool feeling of the rain against his skin, but he couldn't cherish it long, he had to keep going.

He doesn't want BlackStar to catch up with him, Soul just wants to escape. And if BlackStar becomes an obstacle Soul will tear him down. Soul wants to run away, put distance between himself and Maka so that he never hurts her again.

All he ever does is hurt her… The night that she came to him, lured him out with her soul he bit her, took a large chunk out of her neck. If Alex wasn't there then Maka would have been dead, would have bled out. He severed important arteries with just one chomp of his sharp teeth. If that isn't a monster than what is?

And now he punches her in the face.

What next?

Soul took another turn, the only turn left for him to make and came to a dead end. "Shit…" He muttered under his breath and he could hear the patter of the footsteps coming towards him.

He has no way out of this one and he can't jump high enough to get out. He could climb but he knows that he would be yanked down once he found a solid grip on something.

Looks like Soul has to face his pursuer.

BlackStar rounded the corner just seconds later and stood down at the end breathing in and out heavily. His hair was matted down to his face, still sticking up slightly, but was mostly lifeless against the power of the rain.

"Soul, I'm sorry." BlackStar tried as he took a couple of steps towards Soul. "I don't know what you have been through, my comment was insensitive. I'll watch what I say…"

"Oh, shut up!" Soul growled, "I'm not Tsubaki, you can't just say that to me and think that it will work. I know how you work you egotistical bastard. I know how you view me. You think of me as some freak, some wimp."

"I shouldn't have said what I said! I know I shouldn't have! Okay! Geez! Get off your period and accept the damn apology! You are acting like a sensitive priss! Oh, did you break a heel? Did your boyfriend break up with you? Or did you just break a nail, priss? Get over it!"

"Don't call me a priss you fuck! I went through so much!" Soul slammed his fist against his chest and glared down the blue haired male, his eyes gleaming blood red.

"Yeah, I know! You were tortured! It must have been hard, I understand that! But don't just be some mopey bastard who can't handle himself or even fucking deal with his emotions! And you know what, you need to go back home, now! Do you know how worried Maka must fucking be?" BlackStar was in his face now yelling at him sounding out the sound of the rain. "She knows that you didn't mean to hurt her! She knows you never would! And dude… She really cares about you so much. I remember when we thought you were dead that she just cried, cried right in my arms. I never thought I would have to comfort her because of the possibility of your death. Do you know how much that hurt me? So I know it was hard for you, Soul. But you have to realize that it was hard for us, hard for her. You have to strengthen up and be there for Maka. Because she needs you and you definitely need her. So please, please, come back to the house and we can just let this be forgiven and forgotten."

He made it sound so easy... Could it really just be that easy? After what he has done he doesn't think that he deserves to be in their presence, including Maka's. But BlackStar really does bring up some good points that Soul can't just deny.

He's right.

Soul looked down at his feet his hair slicked down his forehead and smiled. He was so ready for a fight earlier and now all he wants to do is go home and collapse on his soft warm bed.

Thunder boomed then lightning cracked overhead causing Soul to jolt in surprise. He didn't even realize that the weather had gotten as bad as it has.

xxx

After that day things calmed down quite a bit home and things were getting back to how they used to be. Soul and BlackStar would casually talk about stupid things that have been going on throughout the past year and Tsubaki and Maka talked about some gossip here and there that was being released in Death City.

Now that Soul has calmed down quite a bit since the day before he really has been trying to be there for his meister in any way that he can. He has kind of been stuck by her side letting her depend on him whenever she needs him and he likes it that way.

What BlackStar said to him the other day really had a huge impact on Soul. It made him open his eyes a bit and now that they are open he sees that he has to try his best to change. It will be hard considering what he is trying to change, but he's going to try for her, for his friends.

Another day passed by and the day for the big party was approaching.

Soul was warming up to his friends a lot in the past couple of days, enjoying their company. It was hard for him to think about not having them…

Soul was in such a good mood that day that BlackStar was able to convince to go out for clothes. Which meant being in public with hundreds of people.

A big step forward.

"Hey! Soul!" BlackStar yelled through a rack of shirts to his friend.

Soul poked his head over the rack and raised his eyebrows. "Sup?"

"You said you only wanted long sleeves, right? And no shorts."

Soul nodded his head and pulled a plain black shirt off the rack.

"Well I guess while we are out we should buy you a tux. I mean you gotta look nice for Maka."

Soul stopped pillaging through the clothes when he heard BlackStar's little remark. He blinked a moment trying to register the words then asked, "What do you mean look good for Maka."

BlackStar laughed at how thick Soul was being, usually it's BlackStar that is dense not Soul. "Oh, man… You know you're supposed to escort a lady to the party we are going to so I assume you are going to take Maka… And don't you want her to think you look good."

"Oh." Soul scratched the back of his head slapping himself mentally for not realizing that sooner. He began looking through some piles of shirts and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I guess I do."

BlackStar beamed at that and threw a pair of jeans at Soul hitting him right in the face. "So you like her?"

Soul folded the jeans across his arm and let it lay there and continued to search for clothes, ignoring BlackStar completely. Which only seemed to get BlackStar going.

"Dude you freaking like Maka, don't you?!" BlackStar was in Soul's face now refusing to be ignored.

And Soul couldn't avoid him.

Soul didn't need a second to think about BlackStar's question because he already has the answer. He does like Maka, a lot, more than anything. He realized that a long time ago. He just loves seeing her, loves being around her. Her smile and her bright green eyes that are always filled with hope and light just warms his cold heart. She means everything to him.

But it's more than just a like. His feelings are raw and powerful, so much more than just liking Maka.

"I think I love her…" He said it quietly in a small voice, kind of embarrassed for saying to BlackStar, the person who would probably tease him.

But BlackStar did no such thing. He just smiled and began looking through the clothes again.

A little time went on and they found more clothes and BlackStar finally opened his mouth.

"You have to tell her."

That's one thing Soul can't do, not now. He's scared that the feelings won't be returned or if they are that he will just end up hurting her and he couldn't ever do that to her, not again.

"No." Soul simply said as they began heading to the register to pay for all the goods.

"C'mon Soul! She probably feels the same. Don't you see the way she looks at you? I mean I've seen the way you've looked at her!"

Soul's cheeks reddened and he had to hide his blush from BlackStar. He cleared his throat but didn't say anything and just greeted the woman at the register.

When she realized who he was her eyes brightened and her day was made.

"Aren't you Soul?" She asked as she began scanning a shirt.

Soul smiled uncomfortably at her hoping that she didn't see the truth behind who he was and then nodded. He hated himself a bit because he knew he was just in a frame of mind where he thinks everyone is judging him when they aren't. He's come to that realization but he still can't snap that feeling he gets.

"It's so good to meet you, wow! You! The Death Scythe! Who survived being tortured by a witch! You're really something!"

Soul groaned when she brought up the witch part and kind of wanted to tape her mouth shut. He didn't want to hear anything what so ever about that, including from pedestrains because it makes him think about it.

"Don't say that." BlackStar said in a harsh tone that should have warded the girl off but only made her day a lot better.

"You're BlackStar! This is so cool! I have Soul and BlackStar right in front of-"

"Can you hurry up and scan the clothing, we have a lot to do." Soul said with a forced polite smile.

Xxx

"So, Maka what are you wearing to the big celebration in a few days?" Tsubaki asked with her head tilted to the side.

"Probably a plain black dress, nothing to fancy." Maka said as she poured hard noodles into a pot of boiling water.

"You should wear something short, not too short, but it lets the world see that you have nice legs."

Maka couldn't help but laugh and the laugh felt so good. "You sound like Liz."

Tsubaki chuckled and then pressed on, "Come on! It'd be nice! And it would drive Soul mad."

Maka paused what she was doing and turned her back to the boiling water. "I don't think that would be a good idea… I'm not trying to impress him and plus we are just friends, he wouldn't go mad." Maka turned her attention back to the pot and eyed the noodles for a second then took a big ladel and checked the sauce. She stirred the sauce and let the aroma fill her noise and felt content.

Tsubaki stood up from her chair in the kitchen and shook Maka by the shoulders slightly giving her a surprise. "Come on! Please do it, take the chance to just wear the dress."

Maka grinned a bit and then shrugged her shoulders. "You are so out of character today. I'll do it, just for you though." Maka said as she waved the sauce ladle at Tsubaki.

After some time went by Maka and Tsubaki began setting up the dinner table and just before they could set the food on the plate the boys came home. Soul brought his bags up to his room and BlackStar took a seat at the kitchen staring at the food with hungry eyes.

When Soul came down the plates were set and everyone was sitting down and no one had touched their food, not even BlackStar but you could tell that he wanted to.

"Uhh…" Soul pulled out his chair and began to sit down, "thanks for waiting guys."

"I didn't want to." BlackStar grumbled as he shoved a fork of spaghetti into his mouth.

Everyone joined BlackStar and began eating. Few words were passed over the table as the group of friends ate, everyone was surprisingly hungry tonight. When everyone finished Maka was about to take their plates to the sink but Soul insisted that he would do it for her, so he did.

When he sat back down next to his meister he smiled at her and earned a smile back.

"So did you guys buy a lot?" Maka asked the two of them as she folded her arms across the table.

"Yeah we did, but Soul needed a bunch of new crap since he's home now."

Soul shrugged, "I guess I kind of did."

Then their conversations went off and they were talking about what had went on today. Not much really happened but it was all said for the sake of talking and enjoying the company of the others.

And after that everyone departed and went their separate ways. Tsubaki and BlackStar went into the guest room, Soul went to his room, and Maka went into her room.

As soon as Soul laid down he fell asleep.

Xxx

Everything around him was dark and then all at once colors came crashing into his vision. All he could see was red, blood everywhere.

Soul blinked and let out soft groans when he felt pain in his chest. He peered into the distance trying to see what was ahead of him but his eyes blurred everything out. He slowly stood up using a flimsy chair to pull himself up and began heading into another room. As soon as he stepped into another room he was greeted with the sight of more blood, it was just splashed against the walls creating a sick masterpiece.

He looked around himself and realized that this home was familiar. It's his home.

Immediately fear rushed through him and his heart began racing. His mind went to Maka and he couldn't stop thinking about her and if she was safe. The idea of her being hurt made the pains in his chest intensify and made him wince.

He began running upstairs going straight for her room. When he reached her door he saw bloodstains on the knob. Seeing the blood there, so close to where she sleeps made his insides lurch. He peered through the ajar door but couldn't see anything because the lights were off. He pushed the door open and stepped inside slowly feeling his heartbeat rumble throughout his entire body. He turned on the light and what he saw made bile rise up into the back of his throat.

Maka laid on the floor sprawled out with one of her legs bent at an awkward angle. Half of her body was covered in shards of ice. The usual light blue hue of the ice was tainted red from her blood.

The only person who could do that, who would do that, was Veera.

Seeing Maka like that made him die inside. He never could have imagined that he would see her so twisted up like that on the ground. Her insides were gouged and looked they were scooped out leaving her with a gaping hole where her organs should be. The blood that pooled beneath her was still fresh, it's like she was just attacked. Attacked and he was unconscious.

He could do nothing but just lay there while she was murdered, killed by the person that he despises more than anyone. His heart ached, a new pain formed, and tears began forming in his eyes. He couldn't fight the sadness because he just lost the most important thing in his life, he just lost his reason for living…

"Maka…" Her name sounded lost as it passed by his lips, like it never really was.

He stepped towards her, her blood splashing up at him and then he collapsed by her side.

He laid his hand against her arm and her skin was cold. For some reason he thought that she might be warm, that she still might have a bit of life in her. It was a ludicrous thought was brought on by his denial, and he still was denying that she was actually dead.

"Please don't leave me…Please don't…" He cried against her shoulder, her blood staining his cheeks.

There is only one way that he could still keep her, to have her forever. It was a disgusting idea that he convinced himself that it was the only way. It was the only way for him to have her forever.

He sat up over her and reached inside of the hole in her stomach. He easily moved up into her chest feeling broken ribs jab at his hand and then he could fill her still heart. He was glad that that piece wasn't removed because it held something important. He grabbed it and carefully pulled it out of her chest. Once he extracted her heart he held it with one hand and began drilling a small hole into it with his finger. Something warm touched his finger tip and he knew that it was her soul that it was left intact.

He pulled her Soul right out of her heart and stared at it lovingly feeling her essence. He knew that he had to do it, that there would be no other way for him to be with her so he opened up his mouth and brought her soul forward.

Soul woke up and shot out of his bed. He ran out of his room and pushed Maka's door open. He was glad to see that was just lying in her bed, sound asleep, alive. Relief flooded through him, but he couldn't leave. Seeing her dead like that, covered in blood freaked him out. He needs some sort of closure, he can't just let something like that stick to him. Maka did tell him that he can come to her for anything, so for this once he is going to come to her.

Soul walked up to her and said her name softly, when she didn't wake up he gave her a small shake.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see him. The sleepy look on her face was gone as soon as she saw his big red eyes and his lips pulled into a tight frown.

"Are you okay?" She asked as she sat up pulling her covers off of herself.

"No…" Soul shook his head then threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "I'm not okay…" He whispered softly in her ears, the image of her dead replaying over and over again in his mind.

Maka wrapped her arms around him and held him close, glad that he actually came to her for something. When she secured her grip around him his grip only tightened.

"What's wrong?" She questioned as she rubbed circles around his back so she could calm him down.

He was quick to answer, "I had a dream that you were dead… She killed you…" He tightened his grip on her as if he were making sure that she was really there. "And I- I ate your soul…"

"Soul I'm not dead, I'm here." She broke the embrace and grabbed his face with her hands and stared him right in the eyes. "I'm alive, okay? And you would never do something like that, not to me, not to anyone ever again."

"But what if I do?" He asked, his voice thick with sorrow. "What if I start killing again? I don't want to hurt you anymore!"

"It's okay…" Maka gently rubbed his cheek then let her hands fall away from his face. "You won't do that again, I trust you. She can't make you do anything anymore, she has no power over you. And she won't kill me, because we will end her before she gets a chance to harm me, to harm any of us, including you."

"Maka…" Soul looked at his bedroom from her doorway and then glanced back at her. "Can I stay in here with you…?"

Maka smiled warmly at him and nodded her head. Soul walked over to her bed and climbed in and underneath the sheets. They laid facing each other looking into the others eyes as if the other held all the answers.

"I have to protect you." Soul whispered.

"And I have to protect you."

* * *

_**AN: I hope you all enjoyed! Any questions, comments, or concerns? **_


	7. Chapter 6 Girl

**_Sorry that this is late! I will be adding another chapter after this one! I have a lot of school work so I don't really have time to focus on this. Well I found some time to write so here ya go :D I hope you enjoy_**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Only one day before the big party that the great Shinigami scheduled. Just a few days ago it felt far away, almost untouchable, but now it is right around the corner beckoning to Soul. It's said to be the most anticipated party of the year of the decade even, because of all the lore and news it encompasses. The hype behind this party is almost unimaginable.

Hundreds, thousands of people are going to be attending this party held at the DWMA. Even people from around the world making it diverse. And all of these people will be celebrating the same thing: The capture of The Eater and the return of Soul Eater.

Little do they know that The Eater isn't actually captured, that he is actually Soul. A monster in disguise, protected by people of high power because they believe he willingly commited any crimes. What a shocker it would be for the public to learn that their beloved Soul is a mass murderer who has broken the creed that the DWMA follows.

And it appears that some people are waiting for the actual truth to come out, they don't believe that Soul is a victim of a witch, but a criminal on the loose.

That's the same frame of mind that Soul shares. He doesn't see himself as Maka does, as someone circumstanced to the wrong things at the wrong time, he truly sees himself as a criminal. A monster who was designed to kill… A wicked beast that will even kill the people that he loves so much…

Soul slowly stirred awake with his eyes crusted in sleep. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes feeling well-rested yet groggy at the same time. When he fully opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings he was completely shocked to see his meister next to him in the bed. Her head was laid on the pillow he slept on, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about how close that his lips were to her lips. God, what I would do to just kiss her… But he couldn't kiss her and that just frustrated him, he can't have someone as pure and as great as her. Not after what he has done.

But still, just the thought of kissing Maka seemed so innocent and magical, he almost wanted to do it and didn't fear the repercussions. He actually didn't fear the repercussions, not as much as he should at least, he more so feared himself.

He looked at her longingly for a moment taking in her natural beauty. She has some color to her cheeks and wears a small smile in her sleep which makes him think that her dreams are of nothing horrible. Her skin is flawless and radiant save for the bruise that he gave her… And the way her hair is kind of messy just looks so cute to him. He let out a deep sigh knowing that he can't just stare at her all day long even if he kind of wanted to do so. In all honesty Soul has realized that he wants to do a lot of things to Maka.

"Gotta get up…" He mumbled to himself as he carefully crawled off the bed so he wouldn't disturb Maka in her slumber. As soon as he was on his feet he noticed that the door to the room was left wide open and he didn't know if he left it open last night or if Tsubaki or BlackStar opened it. Either way he hoped that neither one of them saw him and Maka the way that they were. If Tsubaki saw she would tell BlackStar and he would never let Soul hear the end of it, and if BlackStar saw it he would still tease. Not exactly a win/win situation that Soul is in right now.

Soul quietly left Maka's room and walked out into the hallway thinking about different things all at once. He worried about being teased, he thought about his dream, and he thought of Veera. And when he thought of her he went numb, everything just felt meaningless to him, but not for long. Once he shook that woman out of his head he just worried about BlackStar, he felt like himself and not some empty husk of an individual.

When Soul entered the kitchen he was surprised to see that not even BlackStar or Tsubaki was sitting at the table, the kitchen was lonesome, and Soul was the only one within it. He felt relief wash over him when he didn't see any sign of BlackStar being down here and headed to the fridge to get something to settle his stomach. He peered inside of the fridge and the only thing that looked appetizing to him was the milk, he shrugged, and made himself a glass, quickly he downed it, and placed the cup in the sink.

With that his stomach was settled, the beast didn't require anything else. He slowly headed out of the kitchen, being so hesitant to leave because he thought that he might want to get a bite to eat before leaving, but ended up not getting anything to eat. He headed into the living room and sat down, he stared at the blank TV screen, and thought about what he was going to do.

No one else in the house was awake it seemed except for him so he is pretty much all alone. There isn't anything to do at home since no one is awake, he can't talk to people when they are asleep, so he is left with not a thing to do. Rather than just being bored with nothing to do he decided that he would do something, that he wouldn't hide inside the house forever, that he would ventureout into the public where pairs of eyes can study his every move. The idea of heading out scared him but it didn't stop him from putting on some different clothes and heading out into the streets.

As soon as he was on the road he began walking, walking without any particular direction in mind. He didn't have to worry about getting lost because he knows this city better than he knows himself including all the back alleys, it's a maze he has mastered. As he walked down the road he could hear birds sing and children laugh in the distance, everything sounded so peaceful and calm like there was no eminent danger approaching. It was nice because for once Soul felt calm, relaxed.

The suns rays sunk into his pores and gave his cheeks some color the longer that he roamed the bustling streets of Death City. People passed by him quickly not even really giving him a second glance because of how busy that they were. Soul honestly forgot why he was so scared to come out of here in the first place. He doesn't feel like he is being judged or watched he just feels like another regular person making there way through the town on a nice day.

Soul kind of feels bad for giving everyone such a hard time. Earlier he would lock himself in his room if they brought up heading out into the city, he would shrink away and hide. He let out a deep breath, disappointed in himself, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Hey!" A little voice called out to him sounding familiar. It sounded too familiar, like someone that he used to know...

Soul froze in place and hesistated to turn around. His heart was suddenly pounding and his chest was beginning to ache. That small voice reminded him of someone in his past... He didn't want to turn around, he didn't want to face the person.

"Hey! Aren't you Soul?" A small hand grabbed onto his pants leg causing him to lock up.

He closed his eyes, _it's okay, he told himself, it's not the same person,_ _it's not her._ He turned his head over his shoulder and looked down. Sweet brown eyes locked with his and brought up rancid memories in his head. The little girl before him with her big brown eyes and chocolate hair looks just like the other girl, the other person that he let down. It hurt to look at the girl because it was like he was staring at her ghost, that she is haunting him for what he did.

He gulped, his eyes narrowed at her, trying to decipher what his reality was he kept himself at a distance from the child.

"You are Soul! I knew it was you!" The girl hurried towards him with opened arms and flung them around his waist. Soul felt his gut tighten painfully as the little girl nuzzled her head against his hip. This is too painful to him. He can't take it. The similarities that the two hold are just too much for him to bare, he can't look at this decoy and not feel these painful emotions.

"I'm a weapon just like you!" She let him go and cheered with a triumphet fist in the air. "I'm a scythe! I found out last year and I'm going to the DWMA when I turn ten which is in three months!"

_A weapon. A scythe. Just like me. Just like her._

Soul gave the girl an uneasy smile and ruffled her hair causing her to giggle, and that giggle of hers was identical to the girl that he so abruptly let down. "Well..." Soul fished for words, trying to end the conversation. "That's not too far away... You know, I'm really busy so-"

"Aww..." Her brown eyes seemed to tear up like he just broke her dreams. "Do you have to go? I just got to meet you!" She folded her arms over her chest and frowned. "And now you have to go..."

Soul knew that he was going to regret this but he couldn't just let this girl down, it felt wrong to do that since it feels like he has let her down before. He got down on one of his knees and gave the girl a kind smile. "I'll stay a little longer."

Happiness poured into the girl and she threw her arms around is neck. "Yay!" She squeezed him tightly and then let him go. She stared straight into his eyes, straight into his soul and said, "You're my hero."

Soul smiled but on the inside it felt as if he had been stabbed. She called me her hero... His chest began aching again. Doesn't she know what I did to her? Isn't this the same girl? Is this just a ghost...? What is going on?

He didn't know what to do now, he didn't know what to think or even feel. His emotions were beginning to mix together and become an icky unidentifable substance. He couldn't understand what he was feeling and he felt like he should. He didn't know if this pain that he felt was because of guilt or regret.

"Are you alright?" She asked with big brown eyes filled with so much kindness and hope.

Soul looked into her eyes and his heart felt like it had broken, like it had just shattered in his chest. "Y-yes." He managed to choke out in a grim tone with tears edging his eyes.

The little girl shook her head, surprising him slightly, and began to study his features. "You look sad." She said in a soft voice reminding him of his own mother.

She wasn't wrong. He did feel sad and right at this moment he feels like he is going to snap. He doesn't want to freak out, he doesn't like the feeling, he can't take it. His head is so jumbled up right now and seeing this little girl isn't making him feel any better, it's making him suffer.

"I'm sorry..." He grabbed onto her shoulders and stared down at his own feet with tears welling up out of his eyes. "I'm so sorry!" He began digging his nails into her skin causing her to squirm. "I didn't..." He looked into her eyes and saw fear. He snapped his mouth shut in horror and stood on his feet.

_You're not her_ he told himself as he turned away from her. You're not the same girl! He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and began hurrying down the street glad that he didn't hear her calling after him. It hurt him so much that she was so much like her... Her eyes, her hair, her smile, her entire existence... He hates himself for thinking this but he still thought it - why is she even here. He didn't ever think he would have to vividly remember those times... The time that he could have saved someone and he only doomed them, betrayed them.

He ran down the streets frantically looking for his complete escape and he didn't slow down. He ran faster and faster leaving that child behind as his problems festered and began to protrude. His expression showed that he was suffering, that he was breaking down. He didn't want to remember all those things, it ached so much, his chest felt like it was about to cave in on itself. He couldn't breath, his lungs were constrained and his throat tight. He kept running despite his labored pants, he kept running, trying to get home to where he could rest.

Soon, but not fast enough, he reached the front door to his home and crashed in. He stumbled yhrough the opened door and almost collapsed onto the floor.

* * *

Soul came rushing into the house causing Maka to nearly jump out of her skin. She saw him stumble inside with his eyes wide and his cheeks tear stained. Immediatly worry possessed her and she was quick to be by his side.

She didn't want him to hurt and right now it seemed like he was being tortured by his own thoughts. She guided her trembling weapon to the couch and sat down with him. She placed a caring hand on his back and began rubbing small circles around his back in an attempt to calm him which only failed. "Soul...?" She asked in a very soft voice wishing to herself that she could just steal away his pain from him for just a moment.

His thoughts afflicted him and the memories did nothing but haunt him. She couldn't read the pain that he felt, she couldn't understand it and couldn't even fathom to one day understand what he has endured. Soul has been through so much and this right here is proof of that.

Soul wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her chest. He trembled, he shook so violently that it scared her. She laid her hands on his back then balled up her fists. She felt so useless. She's here for Soul but that doesn't feel like it's enough. He needs more than this, he may have her to lean on but that doesn't seem like it's enough. He's crying right now and that's proof enough that she isn't doing something right to keep him safe. She can't bare to see him in this kind of emotional stress.

"It's going to be okay…" She whispered as she set her chin upon his head and began to run her fingers through his hair. She won't let Soul down, she will find a way to make him happy again.

Finally, Soul calmed down and pushed himself away from the person who gave him comfort in his time of need. Maka didn't want him to let her go, she wanted him to hold on tight because she felt like she was going to have a melt down. She doesn't know what to do to help him…

Maka looked at him from across the room watched him as he paced back and forth and wished she could read what he was thinking even if it was just for a moment.

"Soul…" His name sounded distant from her lips when she said it.

Soul stopped pacing and looked dead at her causing her heart to skip a beat. He waited for her to say something but it appeared that Maka had lost her courage to say what she wanted. She just looked away from him and sadly shook her head.

There was not a thing that she could say that could ease her rapid heart. She knows that she will never be able to understand him the way that she wants to. There is no way for another being to understand another completely. People can't even understand themselves completely so it's almost ridiculous for her to think that she could possibly understand him the way that she wants to.

* * *

It had been a long day for Soul, he just felt so drained. He never wanted to go back outside, he does not want to go to that big celebration tomorrow with all those people there. He's scared of those people and he's scared he'll see familiar faces. He can't bare to see another person who looks like someone that he has let down…

All he can remember is that girl and how he hurt her… It was such a long time ago that it actually left his guilty conscience but now it's returned and he can't shake it out of his head. He hates himself for what he did… All he can hear are her screams tearing through the night as a fire swallowed up her home. She called out for him desperately and he betrayed her… He hates himself. He finds himself disgusting, repulsive, sick. He really is a monster, one of the worst that can't even be dreamt up by a frightened child.

He sits alone in his room with his head against his window, he peered out through the glass and could see children running up the street. He wanted to smile when he saw the group of children playing but couldn't even muster one, he couldn't even frown. He just held a neautral face that said that he was numb.

He doesn't want tomorrow to come but he knows every second that he is just sitting around and thinking about it that it is coming around. It's not too long now…

And who knows what tomorrow could hold in all truth. It could be a turning point for Soul… Or it could even be torture for him and right now h only sees it in negative light.

But just maybe… that night will give him something to look forward to in life.


	8. Chapter 7 - Party Part One

**_Annnnnnnd another chapter! This will have two parts so this is part one and the_ _second part will be coming out... eventually._**

**Chapter Seven**

Maka was dressed down in a black cocktail dress that hugged her curves then flowered out upon Tsubaki's request with her hair worn down in glossy blonde curls.. Tsubaki wore a plain white gown with matching flats with her hair pulled up into a tight two both looked beautiful like they always do, breathtaking upon first glance.

Soul and BlackStar made their attempts at looking their best for the girls and succeeded. Soul wore a striped black and grey suit that hugged his body with a white undershirt and black slacks. BlackStar wore the regular run of the mill black suit with a white undershirt and a tie and pulled it off. Nobody seems to look bad dressed up in a suit.

They were all ready for the party, each of them bursting in excitement at the prospects of the party, all except for Soul who just held a blank expression. It was obvious that he wanted to have nothing to do with this party that he would rather just stay home, but that would be impossible for him to stay home since he's what is being celebrated at the party. He's the big guest of honor, the person that everyone will have their eyes on. Just him knowing that thousands of eyes were going to be on him made him cringe. He wasn't prepared for this night at all, he's ill prepared and it seems that everyone is just shrugging off his demeanor.

Soul sat in the living room next to BlackStar leaning back in the sofa while dully watching the newscaster on television broadcast the DWMA. It looked beautiful. The DWMA was all lit up with bright festive lights with streamers running up the stairs and hanging from poles. Two big candles were lit on the top of the building giving an eerie and inviting glow that spread out across the guests below. The whole city below was blacked out save for a few lights on the dark horizon. It was obvious that everyone in Death City had made it to this big celebration whether it be to celebrate Soul or to get free food.

BlackStar jolted Soul literally scaring him half to death and gave a wide grin. "You ready for the big night? It's all about you. You're the star here. I'll let you shine for tonight!" BlackStar smiled, more to himself, and scooted closer to his friend.

Soul, kind of creeped out, stayed in his place and let BlackStar come closer to him. Soul prepped himself for BlackStar to say something ridiculous but BlackStar didn't say anything outlandish.

"So are you ready man?" BlackStar asked as he peered curiously at his friend, worry crossing over his face.

Soul smiled at the question, he wanted to tell BlackStar the truth, that he was dying inside from just the idea of this, but he instead just gave a shrug of his shoulders, acting as if this wasn't a big deal to him when it was.

"You know… We're glad to have you back man." BlackStar clapped his hand against Soul's back and gave him an earnest look. "I'm glad you're back." He let his hand fall away from Soul's back and gave a roll of his eyes. "Even though you're basking in my limelight…"

"Don't want to share the stage?" Soul asked with a grin.

BlackStar just chuckled in response. He stood up, stretched slightly which caused his shirt to become untucked and began heading out the opened front door. He then realized that his shirt was untucked and began cursing as he rushed to tuck it back in as neatly as he could in his haste.

"Come on man! Get Maka!" BlackStar called from the doorway as he began heading to the car that was waiting for them outside.

Soul and realized that he was going to be the man that Maka would be sharing the night with. With that realization that sneaked up on him so suddenly he began to fall into a panic. He didn't want to ruin this night for her, this should be a happy time, a time of celebration, so he should enjoy himself and try to make it a good night for her. Making her happy is all that he wants.

He placed his hands on his knees and then pushed himself to get up off the couch. Once on his feet he made his way up the stairs and immediately headed to her bathroom. He stood in front of her door for a few moments waiting in his own hesitation and then knocked on the door. He waited a few seconds and then he could hear the muffled sounds of heels scraping against the wooden floors.

"Coming!" Maka called out from beyond the door then pulled it open nearly causing Soul to stumble inside.

Soul barely caught his footing once that door was opened up. He straightened himself out trying to act like it never happened but the giggling he heard just seemed to remind him that he almost fell. He turned and as soon as he saw Maka his heart began to soar. She looked absolutely breathtaking in the black cocktail dress. It showed off the right amount of skin and left Soul wanting to see more of it.

"You look beautiful Maka."

Maka looked at him with her eyes wide, as if the compliment took her off guard, and then tilted her head and smiled at him. That smile made his heart rate rise and caused his hands to get warm and clammy. Something about her just drove him to insanity.

"You don't look too bad yourself Soul." She said as she approached him and gave him an elbow into his ribcage. "You'll knock all the girls dead."

That made Soul grin a bit even though it gave birth to bad thoughts in his mind. "Oh, even you?"He asked, staring intensely into her eyes which caused her cheeks to flare up. Seeing her blush gave him a sense of accomplishment, it meant that he did something right for once. He wants to see her blush and smile more tonight. He's making it his mission to give her a good night. He wants to impress his meister, so he will, he will give her the best night of her life.

But what will he do?

Not even he knows completely. All he has in his mind is to make this a good time for her to have but he doesn't know how he's going to make it a good time for her. In all honesty he is quite lost but that isn't going to stop him from trying.

Soul and Maka exited the black vehicle once they reached the towering steps of the DWMA. Up ahead of them BlackStar and Tsubaki were walking, heading up the flight of stairs that never seem to cease. From where they stood now the DWMA was just a dot with yellowish lights emitting from it. Even from where they stood it still looked beautiful. THe stairs were even given some decoration to give the place some more life, little lights ran up the steps with rose petals equally spread apart from another on each step. It was a nice treat for the eyes.

"Shall we?" Maka asked as she gave Soul her arm with a smile that made his heart skip a beat. He hooked his arm around hers and gave a nod of his head, he felt unsure, but having her made him feel like he was on solid ground. Still, he had the strange feeling that this night would somehow end bad, that he would do something to ruin it. He smiled to himself slightly thinking that he won't let this night go wrong, this will be the best night of their life.

They hurried up those steps together with other people hurrying up them and rushing past them. They just casually walked with one another acknowledging the friendly nods and small waves of those who did pass them by.

Once they reached the top they were met with a banner that read: Welcome Back Soul!

It was nice with a spray of red hues. Soul didn't like tt. What he read was welcome back Eater. He felt like he was barraging right back into the population as some ruthless killer. Once that thought snuck up into his brain he couldn't stop thinking about all of the people that he killed and his mood began to dwindle.

They entered in through the large doors and were met with a crowded hallway. They journeyed on inside the DWMA and headed for the Cafeteria where most people would be situated. Once they made it there they were stopped at the entrance by a young face, probably a freshman.

"Oh! Soul and Maka! Your seats are just over here, follow me."

He led them to a table covered in a silky white table cloth with an arrangement of spider lilies and roses. Soul pulled out Maka's chair for her and gestured for her to sit down. Maka smiled and took a seat, when she was sitting down he pulled his chair next to hers and sat down. Once he was sitting he couldn't help but to look all around the place.

Streamers hung from columns. Black and white stars lined the ceiling. The stage had thick luxurious red curtains and a beautiful black piano centered on the stage. Hundreds of tables were sorted throughout the room with thousands of people cluttering in. The place was congested, it seemed like there wouldn't be enough space for everybody, and there probably wouldn't be. The cafeteria is spacious but it can't hold the entirety of Death City.

Soul folded his arms across the table and turned his eyes up to see a chandelier hanging above his head. It was golden holding a bundle of candles that seemed like they would never burn out. He wondered if that thing would fallon him and if it did would he die.

"Hmmm…" Maka swept her finger across her lip and brought her hand underneath her chin. "Where are Tsubaki and BlackStar?" She narrowed her eyes tat the crowd and couldn't seem to spot them out. It would almost be impossible to spot anyone out in this kind of crowd.

Soul lifred his eyes over the crowd and searched for his blue haired friend but couldn't find him, when he couldn't find him he just shrugged. "They're here. Somewhere." He said in a bland voice.

Then he realized that he wasn't making this night very fun and he felt guilty. He bit his lip and began thinking. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say, just being with Maka makes his mind go blank and sometimes he can't stand it. He wants to be able to spend time with her and make it worth the while but how can he make anything worth while when he can't even find the words to say. He wanted to hit himself for being so ill prepared for this moment.

"I hope you'll give me a dance tonight." Maka said with hope trailing in her voice.

Soul was relieved to hear her say something. "I will. What kind of date would I be if I didn't dance with you?"

"A bad one." Maka said with a chuckle,

Before Soul could say something Tsubaki and Soul came up to the table carrying drinks. They sat down and gave Soul and Maka their drinks.

"It was so crazy a the drink table I'm surprised we were even served." BlackStar said as he scooted up to the table.

Tsubaki nodded. "Sorry that it's not liquor or any of that. THey're not serving that since kids are here."

Maka didn't mind about that one bit, she actually thought that that was a good idea. "It's better that way."

"I wo-"

Soul was cut off when the sound of microphone buzzing hit his ears.

"Uh… Hello. Good evening everyone!" Kid said in a jovial voice from the stage. He wore a white suit with a black undershirt and black shoes. His hair was perfectly kept and symmetrical just like he likes it. Maka and Soul both noticed that he didn't seem as strained as he did earlier, he looked well rested and even relaxed a bit.

"Can everyone find their seats? I have some announcements that need to be made and so does Toma. If you can't find your seat I'm sure Liz or Patty wouldn't mind helping you."

"Speak for yourself Kid!" Patty yelled as she folded her arms across her chest and looked away from him angrily.

Kid chuckled in response to her childish nature and then waited for everyon to find their seats. The huge crowd seemed to diminish once everyone was seated. The room looked much larger now that there weren't thousands of people standing in it.

Kid looked happy as he stood on the stage, his golden eyes bright, his posture erect, and his smile warm. "It's been awhile since we've held a celebration like this. And I'm sure you all know why we are holding this gathering. It's for Soul. For the weapon we thought we had lost forever." Kid looked over at Soul and their eyes met, Soul shrunk back in his seat hoping that no one else looked at him with his jaw tight and his muscles stiff. "He's truly been through hell. Worse than what any of us had to go through and he made it out alive. Sure, he's a little messed up, but he's alive and that's all that should matter. We must ignore those rumors out there that say he is the Eater." His voice grew ominous and low. "He is no murderer and all who have accused him are mongrols. I won't apologize for that, you can hold me to that if you desire. Well as stated before this is a celebration for our Death Scythe. But not just that. This is also a celebration of the capture of the Eater. We went though such a long time…. We were unable to catch the Eater for such a long time and it's almost shameful that we didn't catch him immediately. I can't even begin to express my sorrows and condolences for those families that have lost so many loved ones to that monster."

Soul swallowed hard, he shivered, and felt the guilt pile on top of him. He tried not to look guilty but he couldn't help it. He was getting sweaty and clammy but somehow felt cold. He looked at all the people that were seated in the cafeteria and saw eyes on him. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished that he wasn't here, he can't take this kind of pressure on him. Then, suddenly, all of the knots in his gut untwisted when he felt a small hand land on his. He turned his eyes to Maka and saw a sad smile on her face with green eyes that matched. He gave a nod of his head and she squeezed his hand giving him the relief that he needed.

"The Eater will be executed but I have decided against letting it be live. That would be cruel, and yes, while he was cruel to us we will not treat him the same way and let a million of eyes watch him be killed. There is justice in that…. You know…" Kid paused for a moment and looked at his weapons. "I remember when Soul first disappeared. Maka came to me and ordered a search. Then as time went on... and I thought he was dead and pretty much gave up, she still believed. She never stopped believing. And now she has her weapon again. If you don't call that a happy ending I don't know what you would. Now I have said my fair share so please welcome Toma to the stage."

The audience roared with applause and definitely welcomed the investigator onto the stage. The man was neatly dressed up in a luxurious black suit. His hair was dark and short and his eyes were bright and lively. He walked up to the microphone and cleared his throat. After surveying the crowd he began to speak.

"It's nice to see that so many people came out. Even the little ones are here." A baby could be heard crying in the distance. "It's been an interesting year to say the least. At first we lost Soul and then this wicked beast rose up and started devouring souls… And now we have Soul again and the Eater is captured but there is a witch on the loose.

"That witches name is Veera and this witch held Soul hostage for quite a while. She damaged one of our most important people. And no one deserves to be tortured." His voice took on a somber tone. "I'm sure we can all acquiesce that Veera needs to die. We cannot have someone vile like her on the run. And who knows where she may be right now. Who knows what she may be doing. Which is why we have created a special division to take her down at the DWMA. Some advanced students of the academy will be allowed to sign for a spot on a few squads but only up to one hundred students may be allotted to work with us. This division is called the Witch Extermination Branch (WEB) which has been created to deal with witches who have gone against the treaty. And the witches are okay that we have this branch because they created a system in which if a student kills a witch without just cause they will be persecuted. I am the head of this squadron for now but when Veera is killed I will be stepping down so Sid can take my place. Veera is a fractious woman and she needs to be dealt with. The main people I have already assigned to this squad is Soul, Maka, BlackStar, Tsuabaki, Kim, Ox, Stein, Marie, and a few others. Soul…" Toma took a deep breath and looked at the weapon. "You cannot leave this squad." Then he proceeded and left Soul with that to think about. "It will be a grand night ladies and gentlemen! Enjoy it! Celebrate while the night is young! While you are alive!"

He clapped his hands together and the velvet red curtains drew back and an orchestra was revealed. He beamed brightly at the audience and gave a nod of his head. Kid smiled and gave the orchestra their cue to play.

Sweet notes filled the room and the atmosphere became one of peace and happiness.

Soul stood up from his chair and pushed it back into the table. He stood over Maka and stretched his hand out towards her hoping that she wouldn't leave him to hang out dry. "May I have this dance?" He asked and nearly choked on his words.

Maka looked up at him, a thought seemed to cross her mind and then her lips twitched up. She gently pressed her hand into his and gave him a nod of her head.

BlackStar and Tsubaki looked at the exchange between weapon and meister and couldn't help but to smile.

Soul led Maka out to the center of the room where a massive chandelier hung. Others joined them in the center to sway to the music. Soul, growing uncomfortable, decided that he didn't want to dance here. The scenery didn't feel right to him so he led her out to the balcony where the music could still be appreciated.

Maka stepped in towards him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Soul hesitantly placed his hands on her hips avoiding all eye contact with her because of how nervous he was. She stepped closer to him and their bodies were touching. Soul shut his eyes for a moment and gathered his composure, when he opened his eyes he stared deeply into hers.

"It's been awhile since we have danced, huh?"

* * *

_**Any questions? Comments? Or concerns?** _

**_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you haven't noticed from my writing style I'm pretty laid back so things are usually simple and almost to the point. I wish I was more detailed. I might not be posting another chapter for awhile because I have school and my AP courses are rigorous and demanding. But part two will be out!_**


	9. Chapter 8 Party Part 2

**_AN: Wooo! I've been stuck in the statistics of ABR for the past week and I'm happy about what I see. I'm a really lazy writer so I didn't think I'd really get many people to enjoy my content._**

**_I have this rated M for a reason. And for people who think I'm going to write a "lemon" I don't know if I will. I've been wondering if I should change the rating but I decided against it because I know that some things that are coming up are rated a solid M. I have also been pondering on the themes that I have it under. Romance and horror does not seem to completely fit it, but I don't know what to change it to. I've been thinking about angst. What do you guys think? Anyone want to give me an opinion?_**

**_And before I forget! To the reviews I have not replied to yet:_**

**_Guest: Aweeee_**

**_It was a touching moment. Maybe there will be more moments like that if I decide to write more and don't suck so bad at it._**

**_1rocker-chic: Cute!_**

**_I meant to reply to your review a long time ago but didn't get around to it so I'm sorry! I'm glad that you think it's cute. ^^_**

**_Guest: I really like this story I started reading when you first came out with it and I have been checking it regularly so I'm happy and I would suggest you probably give them a little bit more time the have soul captured again but its your story and I'm not gonna be the one that tells you how to write_**

**_I'm glad that you have been with me so long, that's pretty cool! Thank you for dealing with my lack of updates and cruddy writing. I wanted to give them more time but I was so unsure of what to write about. I re-wrote a few chapters on several different occasions trying to find the best one and it was just tedious. I'm horrible at pacing and I really hope that it doesn't destroy your time reading this. I'll try to do better next time!_**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"This is a really nice party so far. I really hope that Soul does well around all of these people." Tsubaki said with worry in her voice before she took a sip of her drink. BlackStar, who sat across from her, just nodded his head in agreement. They both realized that it would be a shame if Soul had some sort of meltdown at a gathering this large. If he did break down in front of all these people here he would probably never show his face again.

"I'm sure Soul will be fine as long as he is with Maka." BlackStar said as he laid his chin on the table and stared at the ice cubes in his glass, he was bored and had nothing better to do at the moment. To entertain himself he decided that he would confide something into his weapon. "So..." He said as he lifted his head up and began tapping his fingers against the table. "Did you know that Soul is madly in love with Maka? He was telling me about it when we went out together. He's probably getting all weird around her right now, I bet it's hilarious."

"Has he told her how he feels?" Tsubaki asked, she asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Nope. I'm guessing he won't ever tell her because he's such a priss as of lately. He won't make a move."

"Should I tell Maka to make a move? It's obvious that she has very strong feelings for him." Tsubaki was on the edge of her seat with news that Soul loves Maka. She has always kind of assumed, even before his disappearance, that Soul had held some sort of strong feelings for Maka that were beyond friendship.

BlackStar just shook his head and let silence consume them for a moment. He peered over at the crowd looking for his pale friend but couldn't spot him anywhere. While he was looking for Soul he also looked for his blonde companion but could not find her either. He gave up with a shrug and turned his attention back to his weapon.

"BlackStar... Can I have a dance?"

BlackStar stayed silent for a moment and played with his fingers. He didn't want to dance because that is admittedly one thing that he is not good at. But it would be for Tsubaki so why not?

"Yeah. Let's dance."

* * *

Toma sat next to Stein and Marie at the table they were assigned to along with his companion Alex. He joined in on the friendly banter being passed along and studied the crowd. Through a lack of a cluster of people he could see to the balcony and could make out two silhouttes dancing to the music. He smiled slightly and then turned his attention back to the conversation.

"Yeah he should be doing a lot better now. The state he was in before was dreadful, even I felt bad for the kid." Stein admitted with a sigh.

"I really hope that he is. I feel so bad for Soul. He didn't deserve any of that." Marie said as she snuggled into Stein's chest.

Toma just nodded his head glad that they weren't referring to him as the Eater. All the people that know he is the Eater are not permitted to speak of him as such. It was a rule and it must always be followed even after Veera is taken down.

"Hey sir..." Alex jolted Toma.

"Yeah?" Toma responded in a dull voice,

"That woman over there with short blue hair is staring at you." He pointed through the crowd at a woman with glossy blue hair that seemed to stand out above everyone else. She was very pretty and had gentle features that fit her face. She was definately unique from the rest of the crowd.

"Well what do you want me to do about a woman staring at me?" Toma asked with a roll of his eyes.

"You could get some guts and approach her."  
Toma narrowed his eyes at Alex. "Watch it," he ordered and then laughed causing Alex to break out in a sweat. Toma clapped his younger companion on the back with a heavy hand nearly making him face plant against the table. "I'll go talk to the pretty lady!"

Alex, relieved that Toma left the table, watched as the man wore his pride on his sleeve as he waltzed over to the young woman. He pressed his fingers to his temple and gently began massaging so he could rid himself of the pain emanating from his skull. "He drives me mad sometimes."

Stein chuckled at that and gave Alex a sick grin. "I guess we're all mad then aren't we?"

* * *

The woman with short pale blue hair smiled warmly revealing her pearly white teeth. Her eyes sparkled when she smiled and pulled at Toma's heart strings, he didn't think that someone so beautiful could even exist. Just from looking at her his heart kind of raced, it's like she cast sme sort of spell on him and had him wrapped around her nimble thin fingers.

"Why hello Mr..." She paused for a moment trying to remember his name it seemed. "Toma!" She remembered with a smile.

Toma smiled back at the pretty lady more than happy to share his company with someone as lovely as her. He could not help but to feel older around someone like her and that gave him devious thoughts that a man of his stature should not freely have. He is ashamed of himself but he cannot help what he thinks and feels.

"Hello ma'am." He said as he dipped into a slight bow. "May I ask of your name?"

Her eyes lit up and a grin spread across her lips that made her appear sinister. He was taken aback by the sudden change in her features and didn't know how he should feel towards a woman who looks beautiful one second then wicked the next.

"I am Elaine." Veera lied straight through her teeth with a pretty smile.

* * *

Soul and Maka swayed to the orchestra with their bodies close together. The world around them obsolved and they felt like they were the only ones even alive at the moment. For once in a long time they both felt content with no weights weighing heavily on them. They felt free. And they felt safe in the other's arms.

Soul held onto Maka tightly, his arms now wrapped around her waist pulling her into his chest. He didn't want to let her go and he didn't intend to. This right here is what he has wanted for so long. To have her. To hold her. Everything just feels right when he is with her and all of his problems while they may still be there are not festering in his mind and torturing him.

Maka laid her head benath his chin and kept her arms secured around his neck. She inhaled his scent and relaxed as they swayed back and forth to the music not even really swaying to the music being played but the music in their own heads. She didn't want this moment to end, she wantedto be in his arms for as long as she could be, forever if that was a possibility.

Soul wanted to say something that has been on his mind for such a long time but he didn't know how to approach the subject. He's scared of saying it out loud, scared of saying it to her, but he knows that he has to. Somewhere deep down inside of himself, within his bones, within his soul, he knows that he has to tell her or else he's just going to lose himself not knowing what she feels.

"Maka..." Her name was spoken softly from his lips. He pulled away from her slightly and locked eyes with her.

Maka, kind of unnerved by the sudden intensity within Soul stared back into his red hues. She was curious as to what was on his mind and had a feeling that whatever it was it was important.

"I have to tell you something... And I don't want you to say anything if you don't want to because I know what I'm about to say is some heavy stuff..." He paused for a moment biting into his bottom lip. "Look... I care about you a lot. You mean... everything to me. When I was locked away and tortured all I could think about was you. I would see your face in unfamilar things and hear your voice when the world dimmed out on me. You were somehow always there for me. And even when I had my memories of you repressed you were still somehow there."

Maka didn't know why but her insides felt like they were on fire. She felt like she was about to burst. She held her composure and kept her eyes on him almost scared of the words that he was speaking.

"Maka... You may not feel the same way but that won't stop me from feeling the way that I do. You can even hate me if you want and I'll still feel the same." He grabbed onto her arms and leaned in closer to her face. "I love you. I love you so much. And... hey... I understand if you don't feel the same back but as I said before that won't stop me from loving you."

Maka saw the seriousness in his expression and felt her gut twist. She couldn't believe what she had just heard and i made her feel all giddy inside. She couldn't find any of the words that she wanted to say to him, she was left blank. A part of her screamed to say it back but another part of her questioned if her feelings for Soul were truly love. She never really thought about it too much but now this situation is at hand and she cannot just push it aside. She has to answer him, she can't just leave him hanging.

"Hey..." SOul pulled himself away from her slightly and gave her a sad smile that made her chest ache. "Can I ask one thing of you? And if you do this one thing for me I could actually die happy."

"S-sure."

"Let me kiss you, just once?" He asked in an eager almost child-like voice.

Maka gave a reluctant nod of her head and that made Soul smile.

He wrapped his arms back around her waist and slowly pulled her in like he has done time after time in his dreams. He stared into her eyes and watched as her cheeks deepened to a cherry red. He shut his eyes and pressed his lips against hers.

Her lips felt like everything he had ever imagined - soft, plump, and sweet. He held back his desires and kept to the simple kiss. He held onto her tightly refusing to let her go. Maka fell into the feeling and kissed Soul back. Her mind was wiped clean and all she could focus on was locking lips with her weapon. When he felt her respond to his advance he pulled her in closer and deepened the kiss. She trembled in his arms. They both fell into the intensity of the kiss and didn't want to part.

But then Soul pulled away with his cheeks flustered. He breathed out heavily with a satisfied smile and said in a soft voice, "Thank you."

The way he said that made her heart pound even more so than it was before. There was some sort of desperationa and care in his voice that made her weak. Then she heard his I love you in her mind again and didn't know what to do. He was willing to put his integirty on the line and now he may be crushed. In all honesty she can't wrap her head around why he loves her, how he could possibly love her. She doesn't grasp the concept entirely. If she is honest with herself she has never really loved that many people. She loves Soul, but as a friend, maybe more. But she hasn't really had much experience with love between two individual souls that can resonate on a whole different level.

"Soul..." She fished around in her mind for words and kept coming up epty handed. "I- I"

Then she started thinking. She turned her gaze to the city beyond the balcony and leaned against the railing. She stared out at the dark city and tried to find her answer for him there. Maka knows that she doesn't want Soul out of her life, she couldn't take it if he were gone. He does mean so much to her. She can't imagine him with somebody else. She enjys his company and when he disappeared all she could do was miss him. The feelings that she has for him are more than just love for a friend. They have to be.

She turned towards him and could see sadness in his red eyes like she had somehow crushed him. "Soul..." She took a few steps towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug that she didn't want to end. "I love you too." She whispered against his ear.

Soul swelled up with happiness and couldn't believe his ears. He never thought that he would hear her say that to him. "Are you sure?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Of course I'm sure."

"That makes me so happy to hear."

Soul smiled and his life felt like it really had a purpose and all the mistakes he made seemed to just melt away.

* * *

Kid, Liz, and Patty entertained some of the students that attended the DWMA. They were friednly and the kids seemed to adore Kid's weapons. Something about the way they looked probably made the children idolize them.

"Hmm... This night is going rather well, don't you agree?" Kid asked Liz as the kids walked away in glee.

"Eh... Not too bad."  
Kid was immediatley offended. "Eh?! Not too bad! So are you saying that it is bad?"

Liz ruffled his hair and gave a soft laugh that just pissed him off even more. Immediately after she fnished ruffling his hair he scrambled to fix it and hoped that it looked good.

"Liz you know I hate when you do that to my hair."

Liz smirked and draped her arms around his shoulders and whispered in his ear in a dark voice, "You seem to like it when I pull your hair."

Kid immediately tensed up, he gulped, and nervously looked around, his eyes immediately falling on Patty as she scoffed down deserts at the food table. "Heh... Liz don't talk like that when we're entertaining guests." He slid out of her grasp and began to fix the collar of his shirt and then messed with the cuffs at the end of his jacket, trying to sort himself out so he wouldn't think of impure thoughts.

Liz seemed to find this rather hilarious and couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You make it so easy to mess with you Kid!"

Kid rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his chest. He looked her in her baby blue eyes and began to wonder. A grin spread across his lips as he stepped in towards her. He placed a hand on her hip and pulled her against him earning a sharp gasp from his new lover. "You owe me something for messing with me Liz." He placed his lips against hers quickly then pushed himself away from her with a wicked smile that made her heart leap out of her chest.

He walked off rather proud of himself for messing with Liz so well. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw that her cheeks were a bright shade of pink. "Heh, gotcha." He mumbled to himself. He headed over to the table that Stein and Marie sat at and settled down. "Hello Stein. Hello Marie." He looked around in search for the little one and couldn't seem to spot her. "Where is-"

"Eliza is playing with some of the little kids. She's probably showing them something disturbing." Marie said with a glare focused on Stein. Stein just shrugged off the glare and smiled at the thought of his little girl playing the devil's advocate.

"She's grown up quite well, she's very intelligent." Kid said with a smile. "She makes me want to have kids."

Alex joined in on the coversation. "Oh! How old is she?"  
"She's three and a half." Answered Stein with a warm smile. He truly loves his little girl and Marie so much.

"She's a little trouble maker as of lately since Stein has been teaching her about dissection. She dissected our poor cat Moon, luckily Stein was able to fix her back up."

Alex found himself disturbed that a little girl could do such a thing to an animal. "Oh... She sounds delightful." He lied uncomfortably as he rubbed his arm and looked away from the beaming parents.

* * *

Toma danced with the wicked woman and had no idea who she even was. All that he knew was that she was someone beautiful. He danced and danced with his mind swept clean of rational thought. The music seemed to ppor throughout their bones and produce fluid movements.

"So you're the main investigator? Who is the head of... WEB? That's the name correct?" She asked as they twirled around across the floor.

He smiled at her and gave a nod of his head. "In the flesh in blood I am miss."

"Sooo..." She smiled at him and her red eyes gleamed. "Do you mind if I tell you something then?"

"I don't mind ma'am."

"Well..." She leaned closer to him and locked eyes with the investigator. "Something bad will happen tonight. That poor weapon..." Her grip on his shoulders tightened. "Is going to come face to face with an unfortunate event."

Toma eyed the woman queerly and began thinking of the witch named Veera. From what Soul told Toma thi woman Elaine looks a lot like the description of the witch. She has blue hair, it may not be long but it is blue, and she has red eyes. He began questioning if it was possible that she is the witch.

"Who are you?" He asked, glaring into her eyes in search of her true identity.

Her lips twitched up into a prety smile that no longer held a spell over him. "I'll tell you after a few more dances." With that said she laid her head against his chest and grinned. Toma held onto the woman tightly refusing to let her get out of his sight.

* * *

After Soul and Maka gazed at the city together hand in hand they decided to come back inside. They were going to head to the table with all the food but there was way too many people surrounding the area. They ended up having to manuever through the crowd to reach their table. When they noticed that BlackStar and Tsubaki weren't at the table they figured that they were getting food for themselves.

Maka looked up at the stage and stared at the piano while Soul stared at the scar on her neck and the light bruise on her face. He was so fixated on the marks that he has left on her. He still feels bad for hurting her the way that he has and he's scared that he may do it again.

Maka turned to her weapon with a smile and nudged im with her elbow. "Hey... Can you play something on the piano?"

Soul stretched and looked over at the beautiful piano that was just sitting on the stage collecting dust. "I don't know Maka... I haven't played in quite a while." He really didn't want to play because he didn't want everyone to stare at him. If he did play he would become the center of attention.

"Please?" She begged as she stared up into his eyes. "For me."

Soul looked at her and then the piano. He did want to make this a night that she would never forget and if he played that would really top things off. He placed his hands on the table and pushed his seat back. "Okay. I will." He stood up and began heading towards the stage. "Stay here."

Maka almost could not believe that Soul was walking up on stage. He has had so many issues with being in public and now he's stepping willingly into the limelight. This was nice. And he was doing it just for her. That made her happy.

* * *

Veera continued to hold on to Toma and could feel his nails digging into her hips. She knew that she was now compromised and he was just tagging along for the dance. She just needed a little more time. She just needed Soul to notice her and she knows that he will.

She looked over Toma's shoulder and saw Soul stepping up onto the stage. The orchestra ceased and her precious monster took a seat. He looked over the crowd and seemed unable to see her.

"The music stopped Veera." The investigator hissed with his grip intensifying.

"I am not Veera it has not. Someone else is about to play. After this you can do whatever you want with me."

"What are you stalling for?" Toma asked as the sound of the paino roared to life and filled the cafeteria.

Soul's fingers spiderwebbed across the keys and the beauty of his tortured soul could be heard through the keys.

"Silly man. I am not stalling. " She responded as she looked into his dark eyes. In all truth she really was not stalling or buying time, she was waiting for her fortunate moment.

She continued to watch her little monster play out his tune and picked up on each time he missed a note. She graded him on his performance and she knew that it wasn't his best. His best is when she makes him play for her.

Toma freed one of his hands and grabbed his phone. "We have a code 12. Alert the men Alex."

"Oh? What is that for?" She asked even though she already knew.

"You are the person we are searching for. You think I'm dumb enough to let you crawl right out of my grip."

Yes. She thoughts to herself. She did think that Toma was stupid. Any person with a clear mind would arrest her right now but he's letting her stay out of chains for this moment. He truly is stupid.

"Mr. Toma. I am not Veera and I am offended that you would say such a thing to me. I am a mother of one and he is a talented musician."She looked at Soul who played on stage and smiled. "How can I prove I am not that vile woman?"

"Come with me to the balcony so I can ask you a few things."

They stopped dancing and proceeded to the balcony. Once together on the balcony Toma shut the doors so that they were alone.

As soon as the doors were shut Toma took out his hand cuffs and stared at Veera with a smile on his face.

"I didn't think it would be this easy to catch you Veera."

"Well it seems I cannot play into that facade anymore!" She sighed and leaned against the door. "Okay. You caught me Toma. But you are all alone right now and have no backup. I would have thought that you would be smarter than this since you took Soul away from me with that wretched girl."

"I admit I am ill prepared for this. Why are you here? Do you plan to do something to Soul? I won't allow it."

Veera simply snapped her fingers. She no longer needed to wait for the perfect moment. She had everything the way that she wanted it.

"Well it seems you are too late for that." She smiled and walked to the doors. She stood in front of the doors and stared down the man who was as helpless as Soul was.

"What have you done to him?" Toma grabbed onto her wrist and pushed her up against the door.

A soft golden and silver light emanated from her hand and suddenly pale blue crystals began forming. Toma noticed it but he was too late. By the time he pulled his gun out she had the blade pushed inside of his gut. She switched their position and pushed him up against the door smearing his blood all over the place. "Wow you are stupid." She mocked as she twisted the cystalline blade in his gut.

Toma spewed blood out of his mouth and felt his consciousness fade away. He looked into her eyes and her wicked grin was the last thing that he saw.

* * *

Soul stopped playing. He was inert as images flooded his vision. He was back in the room strapped in that old chair once again. He was immobile, he could barely move a muscle. He tried to convince himslf that he wasn't really back there but he couldn't. He could feel the metal bands digging into his ankles and wrists and he could smell the copper in the air along with other filth like piss and vomit.

He looked around in a panic and then saw her face looming over him. Veera smiled down at him and ghosted her fingers across his stomach. He sucked in a deep breath and held on to the arms of the chair with his eyes squeezed shut.

THen she slowly started pushing her fingers inside of his chest and he couldn't stop the screams from spilling from his lips.

Maka hurried onto the stage and could hear the ramblings of the crowd as Soul let out screams of agony. Some just thought he was crazy and others were worried and confused. Before she could reach Soul he fell out of his chair and hit the floor hard.

She's here! She's making me suffer! I can't! I can't breathe!

Soul wrapped his arms around his stomach trying to hold the gawing pain back.

Maka grabbed his shoulder and he shook her away from him.

THe urge for him to vomit was thick. He couldn't take the wretched scent that was filling his nostrils. He couldn't take the pain.

"Maka...' Soul cried out. "Maka! PLEASE!" His voice cracked as he called out for her over and over again.

"Soul!"

"Maka..." Soul whispered in a shaky voice. "Maka... You're here...?"

"Soul..." Maka pressed her hands against his shoulders and stared down at him with tears in her eyes, she wanted to tear him away from hs suffering, but she knew it wouldn't be so simple.

"Maka..." Soul breathed out, his eyes wide when he realized where he was. "Maka it hurts..." He grabbed onto her arm and stared into her deep green eyes.

Maka looked down at his stomach and noticed a black stain on his undershirt. Quickly she unbuttoned his jacket, Soul inhaled sharply, and she saw black blood. She didn't want to believe her eyes, she almost couldn't, he was drenched in his own blood.

"Soul..." She began unbuttoning his undershirt, he tried to stop her, but at the moment he was too weak to. On his stomach amongst the black scars that look like tribal tatoos sat a thick black wound on his stomach in the shape of a V. She brought her now bloodied up hands to her mouth and gasped and so did the crowd when they saw the black on her hands.

Kid, Liz, Patty, Stein, Marie, BlackStar, and Tsubaki hurried up to the stage and huddled over Soul.

Soul stared at them all with a blank expression and moved his arms over his stomach to hide the wound and the markings. He didn't want them to see how hideous he is.

* * *

**_AN: I hope you enjoyed part 2. ^^_**

**_Any questions, comments, or concerns?_ **


	10. Chapter 9 Hunger Pangs

**_AN: I'm back with another update! I don't have much to say so I hope you all enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

_Consume._

_Eat._

_You know you want to._

_Don't you miss the metalic taste that would fill your mouth and coat your throat?_

Soul clung tightly to his pillow, wrapped up in his sheets, hiding from the world. He laid in silence with that voice constantly echoing in his mind. It was making him go crazy. He hated hearing it, he didn't want to hear it speak it's lies to him, but at the moment what it spoke didn't feel like a lie. Soul was hungry. He was craving something taboo.

Flesh. A ripe soul. It sounded absolutely divine to him. He can practically taste it in his mouth now, the warm blood and thick meat sliding down his throat and filling him up, the not so innocent soul flowing through his veins after he has swallowed it, he's hungry, he's craving something he shouldn't.

He can't help himself. Just the idea of tasting it almost made him feral. And he's scared of that. He doesn't want to crave those things but he can't help it. What is more scary to him is that he might hurt his friends who are all worried so much about him. If he loses control again, and he feels like he will, they would be the ones he would first go to.

Maka, Tsubaki, BlackStar, Kid, Liz, Patty, everyone, they are all so worried about him since the party three days ago. They have checked in on him almost every hour to make sure he isn't doing something. He appreciates their effort but he wishes they would just leave him alone. He just wants to be left in solitude to rot, to starve, to just die.

The night of the party went so well for him for a while, he was actually happy for a moment. He was with Maka, the girl he loves, and he kissed her. He kissed the person that he wants most in his life and confessed all of his feelings for her, and she even felt the same way towards him. He got the girl he wanted and now... Now he doesn't want her.

_I don't deserve her..._ He thought to himself as he hugged the pillow to his face.

He doesn't feel like he should be able to have someone as pure as Maka. She's so pretty, so smart,so sweet yet mean, so caring, so understanding and he... He is just a monster. A killer who is ready to break out at any given moment.

His stomach growled and a deep pain resonated inside of him. He let out a soft groan and balled his fists up into his sheets. The pain has been ceaseless ever since the party just like the hunger.

It's like he is back with her again.

Locked up in that bland, blood stained room he would have these hunger pangs when he no longer feasted upon souls. For a while she forced him to down them then one day she stopped and he didn't eat for a month. He didn't eat. He didn't sleep for about a week. He succumbed to a madness and the pains from hunger drove him to need. He began to crave the things that he hated and would listen to Veera so he could get his food. He was like her lap dog who would obey her every command. So if she said sit he would. If she said kill he wouldn't think twice about it.

Then... Then she let him loose in the world when his mind completely went. And he killed and killed with no remorse. She made him a killing machine, a beast with black blood who killed for himself and to please his dearest creator.

Thinking of her sent him to tears. He couldn't stop himself from crying, it all just hurt him so much, the tears stained his cheeks and fell against the pillow. He realizes that he can never escape his past thus he can't escape his present and the future will just be more bleak than his past. He has no way out of the way he feels.

It's funny. He just started feeling happy again with his friends a couple of days ago and now... He knows he shouldn't be allowed to ever feel happiness, laughter should never come out from his mouth, a smile should never form, he shouldn't have the things he desires.

_Maybe... Maybe I should just let the madness take me._

He thought on that a moment but he couldn't say yes to it completely because of his friends, he wouldn't want to hurt Maka or anyone he has came to cherish in life.

Even when they are in the same house and separated by his bedroom door he can't stop himself from picturing her. Her long ash blonde hair falling lightly past her slender shoulders, her sweet smile, her kind green eyes, her inviting touch, she makes him crazy in another way and he wished she didn't have such a heavy affect on him. If she didn't then maybe he could just die, if Maka wasn't here then he could easily part his ways from the living, but she is here, so he can't just commit suicide when she needs him. But just the thought of being dead is so tempting.

No more misery.

No more pain.

No more happiness...

No more anything...

Who wouldn't want such a sweet relief such as that?

Soul slowly sat up in his bed, a pain began growing in his gut causing him to suck at his teeth. He rested his hand against his side and felt something move underneath his hand. His eyes widened, his mouth went dry, and fear consumed him._ No... Not this again..._ He kept his hand on his side and could feel something worm underneath his skin and press against his palm. Something hard protruded from his side, pressing against his flesh, pressing and hoping to come out.

_Please... Not this again..._ He begged as he pushed down on it only causing his muscles to tingle and throb. "Come on..." He begged desperately and kept trying to push it down.

Then it slowly began ripping through his skin and it burned him, he kept his cries of pain quiet as the thing pushed out of his side. He ripped off his shirt and the V that was engraved on his chest was mingled into the other scars making it look like just another tribal pattern. He looked down at his side and saw a black metal dripping with black blood coming out of his side.

He tentatively touched it and could feel his own heartbeat within it. It pulsed and it was made evident that the thing was a part of him. As soon as the thing came it began shrinking back down into his flesh leaving an opened up wound that Soul knew would take forever to heal.

Once it was back within his body he felt a strong tingling sensation in all of his muscles. He shivered and hated that feeling.

The black blood is beginning to reject him again.

"Dammit... Dammit!" Soul cursed in a low breath so no one could hear them if they were outside of his door.

_This is bad... This is very bad..._

When Soul began having those hunger pangs with Veera when she stopped feeding him souls the black blood began rejecting him. Black, metal-like things would sprout out from his body and would leave thick wounds on him for weeks to come. They would shred through his body, scramble his organs, make him a black bloody mess, he was truely hideous then.

This is one thing that he expected to happen in the back of his mind but he hoped that it wouldn't. Soon... This hunger and this pain will drive him to bloodlust. If he can't think of a way out of this then he'll just start killing again with no conscience.

He can't let that happen. He's scared. He doesn't want to become the Eater again. He never wanted to become it and now he's getting close to becoming that vile beast within himself.

He slumped down onto his bed and wrapped his arms around himself. _When... when did I lose myself?_ He stared straight up at the ceiling. _How long before I change now? What can I do to stop it? There must be something... Maybe..._

* * *

It was late at night in Death City and Soul was prowling the streets in the search of a meal. The low lights hid him in the shadows so no suspecting person would easily catch sight of him.

He hurried along throught the shadows and could smell all of the ripe souls. They were rich, so pure, so... He shook his head. He can't succumb to that hunger. He has to redirect it.

Even at the distance he is from home he can still smell Maka's soul. It's such a strong rich intoxicating aroma. He can't help but to think of delving back into her tender flesh so he could have a taste. His mouth began watering at the idea and that made him feel sick but his hunger made him feel worse so he let those disgusting thoughts fill his mind.

He peered around a corner and saw a lonely woman walking the streets. Her hair was short and red and her eyes were a deep ocean blue. She wore a heavy black and white letterman jacket with shorts and torn up shoes. She hummed along quietly to her music and Soul watched her in silence covered by the shadows.

Her soul smelled unique to him. And he knows that unique scents can attract killers. So he followed her down the road for miles and was kind of shocked that she didn't go home yet. It seems people really don't have any worries in Death City since the Eater has been caught.

Then he could catch scent of a foul soul. It was closing in on their location and probably sensed Soul and became apprehensive. Soul kept himself hidden and watched the unknowing girl as she walked around with her headphones in her ears.

Suddenly a man jumped out from an alley with a butchers knife in his hand and lunged at the girl. He was a big man so he easily overpowered her small form and knocked her down. The girls head hit the cobblestone road and she lost some of her strength to fight back.

The man grinned widely and twirled the butchers knife in his hand. "You look pretty!" He said with a big smile as saliva ran down his jaw.

He brought the butchers knife close to her face and gently pressed it against her neck. "I'm gunna chop here. Okay?!" He lifted his arm into the air but never struck.

Soul used all of his power to charge at the man and knock him off the girl. Soul easily overpowered the man and forced his arms above his head.

Soul turned around to the girl and narrowed his eyes at her. "Run!"

The girl gathered herself up off of the ground and began running but not until she got a good look at her savior. Her eyes widened when she realized who it was. She hurried down the street and refused to look back at the sight she could only imagine would be gruesome.

Soul turned his attention back to the heavy man who was trying to free himself from Soul's stone grip. Seeing this man writhe beneath him gave Soul a sense of superiority.

"You're disgusting!" Soul spat as bent the mans hand back that held the butchers knife.

The man let out a low scream that sounded like music to Soul's ears.

Soul leaned down to the man's face with a wicked shark tooth grin and muttered darkly. "Scream some more."

Soul grabbed the butchers knife and decided to give him the same fate that he would have given the girl.

He started chopping the mans hands off then his arms. He moved down to his legs and chopped his feet off then moved up and did the same to his legs. Soon he was just a bloodsplattered torso laying on the ground screaming out in pain.

_She made me cruel..._ Soul thought to himself as he stared down at his dying victim. _She's made me sick..._ He straightened out his fingers and shoved them inside of the mans chest. He could feel the mans ribs separate and his flesh allow Soul in. Soul wrapped his fingers around his heart and stared the man right in the eyes right as he yanked it out of his chest.

The man's soul fluttered up out of his chest and stared Soul right in the face. It was bright red, different from any regular humans soul. This mans soul was tainted, he was impure, he was what they call a kishin egg. Soul couldn't help but to stare at it and wonder if his soul was the same inside of him.

He let go of the mans heart and grabbed onto his soul. It emanated a soft red glow that painted Soul's face with it's light. Soul opened his mouth and swallowed it down. Immediately he gagged at the disgusting taste but he kept it down. His hunger began to cease but only slightly he still had room for more.

Soul looked down at the man and the hole that he left in his chest and decided he would dig in. He split the man't stomach open and buried his face into the red meat and fat. Each bite was as disgusting as the next but it filled him up so he didn't complain. As long as soul could eat Kishin eggs and not human souls then things would be fine.

When he was full he lifted up with his face and body covered in thick, sticky red. He looked down at himself and was proud that he found away to fight back his hunger.

He began heading home, leaving the corpse for someone to happen upon. He hid in the shadows so no one would see him covered in blood.

Once in front of his house he snuck in through his opened up window and checked his clock. It was 2:32 a.m. That means that no one would be awake at this time meaning that Soul is safe but needs to be quiet.

He grabbed some fresh clothes and darted for the bathroom. Once in the bathroom he shut and locked the door. He let out a sigh of relief and began peeling his clothes off of his body. He turned on the showerhead and stepped into the cold spray. He watched as the blood swiveled down the drain and felt so full and satisfied. When most of the blood was washed off he turned on the hot water and enjoyed the heat.

Since he now felt clean after washing up a bit he turned off the shower, dried off, and put on his clothes. He grabbed his blood soaked clothes and hurried back into his room. He opened up his closet and hid the bloodied up clothes underneath everything he had in there.

With that set aside so he wouldn't have to worry about it he collapsed into his bed and easily fell into a deep slumber. When he dreamt he had no nightmares only light dreams that he wouldn't remember when he will awaken.

He's found a way to satisfy his hunger.

* * *

_**AN: Any questions? Comments? Or concerns?** _

**_I'd love to know what you think so far!_**


	11. Taking Requests

_**AU: Hey guys and gals! This thing here isn't an actual update to the story it's actually my way of reaching out to you all. **_

_**I'm curious and right now I'm going to take a break from writing A Broken Reality but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop posting!**_

_**I'm taking writing requests! So if you want something done then send in a review that entails what you want and I'll have it written within a week or two. You can send me a request either from a review or a pm, either is fine! I will write the story and say that it was requested by you, unless you wish to stay anonymous. **_

_**I have no limits on what can be written, so if you want something sad ,then, there you go, if you want some smut, then, boom, ya got it. **_

_**I want to write more stories and try to reach out to you guys more and this is my way of doing it... Hopefully some of you will actually respond to this so I don't look stupid for posting it... Oh geez, I hope I don't post this and it's pretty much just a waste of my time.**_

_**I don't know when I'll start writing for ABR again but if you guys really demand it I'll probably try to update this soon. I just want to branch off of this story for a moment and do some other things because ABR is pretty much the only thing I'm working on, I want to do more things.**_

_**So don't be afraid to make a request!**_

_**Thanks for reading this and I hope you guys reply! Have a great day or night! ^^**_


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